Qass_ 

Book _ 



JOURNAL. 



PRINTED BY L. B. SEELEY, WESTON GREEN, THAMES DITTON. 



A 



JOURNAL OF A MISSION 



INDIANS OF THE BRITISH PROVINCES, 

OF NEW BRUNSWICK, AND NOVA SCOTIA, 
AND THE MOHAWKS, 
ON THE OUSE, OR GRAND RIVER, 
UPPER CANADA. 



AUTHOR OF A JOURNAL OF A MISSION TO THE NORTH WEST 
AMERICAN INDIANS, 



TO THE 



BY JOHN WEST, M. A. 




PUBLISHED BTL. B. SEELEY AND SON, 



FLEET STREET, LONDON. 



MDCCCXXVII. 



1 



P R E FACE 



The many encouraging testimonies which the 
Author met with in the publication of a Journal 
of his Travels among the North West Ameri- 
can Indians, during the years 1820-1-2 and 3, 
as Chaplain to the Hon. Hudson's Bay Company, 
induce him to lay before the Public an addi- 
tional Journal of a Mission to the Indians of 
the British Provinces of New Brunswick, and 
Nova Scotia, and the Mohawks on the Ouse or 
Grand River, Upper Canada, during the years 
1825 and 1826. 

The Author has written openly, candidly, 
from the heart, and under a weight of respon- 
sibility, in making known the destitute state of 
thousands not only among the Aborigines of 
" The North Country," but also of European 
Settlers in the more remote parts of the aforesaid 
British Provinces, who have no one to proclaim 
to them the divine message of mercy, and admi- 
nister to them in the dry and barren wilderness 
the cup of salvation . In testifying of what he 
has seen and known in fact and observation, he 
can truly say that his sole and simple object lias 
been to do good in exciting a further Christian 
sympathy, and a more active exertion in the 
supply of their spiritual wants. 

Commerce has traversed the desert, and 
Colonies have been planted in " the waste 



VI 



PREFACE. 



places," which are preparing a way, through 
Divine Providence, for the conversion of " the 
uttermost parts of the earth." It challenges 
therefore a deep consideration, whether in 
holding of Provinces, and widely extensive 
territories, efforts are made to diffuse Scriptural 
light and knowledge correspondent with the 
means possessed ; and whether Missionaries 
are going forth from among us under a right 
impulse, labouring in their arduous engage- 
ments, in simplicity of faith, and with earnest 
piety for the furtherance of the Redeemer's 
kingdom. Enlightened by the Divine Spirit, 
may numbers give themselves to this conse- 
crated work, and may the Gospel be propagated, 
" not in word only, but also in power," through- 
out the destitute Settlements, and among our 
Red Brethren in the wilderness, who are " fast 
melting away," to use their own beautiful 
metaphor, " like snow before the sun," as the 
whites advance, and colonize their native soil. 

The Author has added his remarks upon the 
climate, country, and population, which fell 
under his own immediate observation, which 
he trusts (with the map prefixed) will afford 
accurate information, and prove interesting 
to the Reader. 



May, 182?. 



CONTENTS, 



PAGE, 

Chapter I. — Leave England. — Banks of Newfound- 
land. — New York. — Slavery. — Population of America, 
— Climate. — Boston. --Salem. —Puritans. --Education. 
— Penobscot Bay. — Indians. — Eastport, Passama- 
quoddy. — Indians. — Bay of Fundy. — St. John's, New 
Brunswick. — Loyalists. — Sussex Vale-Indians 211 

Chapter II. — Indians. — Belleisle Straits. — Mirimachi 
destroyed by Fire. — Bay of Annapolis, Nova Scotia, 
— Indians. — Fur Trade. — Adelah. — Missionaries. — 
Negro Village. — American Colonization Society. — 
Return to New Brunswick. — Frederick Town. — 
Population of New Brunswick. — Climate. — Society 
for the Propagation of the Gospel. — Baptism. — 
Itinerant Preaching 235 

Chapter III. — New Settlements. —Sabbath. — Leave 
New Brunswick. — Albany Anniversary, 4th July. — 
The Great Western Canal. — Lake Erie. — Niagara 
Falls. — Brock's Monument.- "Mohawk Indians. — 
Captain Brandt. — Mohawk Church. — Wesleyan 
Missionaries. — Mississaugah Tribe. — River Credit. — 
Indian Sacrifice and Ceremonies 26-1 



viii 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter X. — Mississaugah Indians, their Location. 
Sabbath spent among them. — Pleasing Effects of 
their Conversion to Christianity. — Indian Preacher's 
Address. — Their bold figurative Language. — Logan. 
— York, Upper Canda. — Auburn Prison. — Utica. — 
Trenton Falls. — Hudson River. — Boarding Houses. 
— Embarked at New York for England.— -Death of 
one of the Passengers. — Arrival in England 291 



DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER. 

The map to face the title page. 



SECOND JOURNAL. 



CHAPTER I. 

LEAVE ENGLAND. — BANKS OF NEWFOUNDLAND. — NEW 

YORK. SLAVERY. POPULATION OF AMERICA. 

CLIMATE. BOSTON. SALEM. PURITAN'S EDUCATION. 

PENOBSCOT BAY. INDIANS. EASTPORT PASSAMA- 

QUODDY. INDIANS. BAY OF FUN DY. ST. JOHN'S 

NEW BRUNSWICK. LOYALISTS. — SUSSEX VALE INDIANS. 

On my return from Hudson's Bay, after an 
absence of nearly three years and a half, em- 
ployed in laying the foundation of the North 
West American Mission, I was requested by 
the New England Company, incorporated in 
the reign of Charles the Second, 1662, to under- 
take a mission to the Indians of New Brunswick 
and the adjoining British Province of Nova 
Scotia. At the same time instructions were 
given me, to visit the several stations of Indians 
in the aforesaid provinces, and also the Mohawks 
on the Grand River, Upper Canada, previous 
to my return to England. 

p 



210 BANKS OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 



I left London under this engagement, June 
the 2nd, in the York Packet, bound to New 
York, United States. In beating down chan- 
nel, the wind was contrary, and continued to 
blow fresh ahead till we anchored off the Isle of 
Wight. A favourable breeze then springing 
up, we set sail ; and as the British shores re- 
ceded from my view, I was driven by the winds 
in a direction from all that I held most dear 
upon earth. It was a moment of trial, but it 
taught me more deeply the value of faith, as a 
divine principle. This bore me on amidst the 
hurried feelings of our common nature, believ- 
ing that I was embarked on a mission to the 
heathen for some substantial good, and that 
missionary labours, though attended with im- 
perfection, were yet a link in the chain of 
human agency, by which the knowledge of the 
Christian religion was to be spread throughout 
a fallen world. 

We passed the Lizard on the 10th, and 
reached the Banks of Newfoundland the 27th. 
In approaching these shoals, so valuable for the 
cod-fishery, we experienced the prevailing 
weather ; cold rain, thunder storms, and a 
foggy atmosphere. In taking this northerly 
direction, it was the intention of the Captain to 
have avoided the Gulf Stream, but we fell 



NEW YORK. 



211 



within its influence on the morning of July the 
1st. This current is a very remarkable one, 
running in a north-easterly direction along the 
coasts of America, from the Gulf of Mexico, 
and Cape Florida. Its width is from forty to 
fifty miles, widening towards the north, as it 
proceeds in a semicircular course, touching the 
southern part of Newfoundland. The water of 
this phenomenon is frequently found from ten 
to fifteen degrees warmer than the air, and 
sometimes considerably more. The velocity 
of the current near its source, is about four knots 
an hour, but varies, as affected by the wind. 

The Hon. Mr. Rush, returning from his em- 
bassy to America, with his family, were on board 
the Packet. They were friendly to missions, 
and every benevolent exertion to disseminate 
scriptural and enlightened knowledge through- 
out the world. His excellency was pleased to 
give me letters of introduction to some distin- 
guished families, with a view to my obtaining 
some useful information on the state of the 
Indians, in my route through the eastern part 
of the United States, to the British Provinces. 
On the morning of July the 10th, we heard the 
cheering exclamation from the sailors of, land ! 
land! and disembarked the following day, at 
New York. My stay in the city was but for a 

p 2 



212 



SLAVERY. 



few days ; and in gleaning knowledge and 
information, I was introduced to a Slave Hol- 
der from South Carolina, who in a conversation 
on the subject of slavery, literally expressed his 
surprise that I should think Negroes " had 
souls like white men ; " and meeting afterwards, 
at the boarding house, with an intelligent 
gentleman from one of the slave-holding States, 
and expressing my surprise that slavery should 
exist at all in America, the first principle of 
whose government declares, that " all men are 
by nature free, equal, and independent ; " he 
observed, that it could not be supposed that 
Negroes were considered or thought of as 
included in the expression, " all men." How- 
ever persons may sophisticate as apologists for 
slavery, its existence is grossly inconsistent 
with the great charter of the nation. It is true, 
that England first carried slavery to the shores 
of America, but having thrown off their alle- 
giance, and made the above noble declaration 
in the spirit of their constitution, every princi- 
ple of reason, consistency, and justice, demands 
the freedom of more than a million of human 
beings, who are held in oppressive bondage 
within the territories of the United States. The 
general government have condemned its unna- 
tural and forced cruelty, and slavery is abo- 



SLAVERY. 



213 



lished at New York, and throughout the eastern 
States ; yet, by an c Imperium in imperio,' in the 
government of separate States, it exists from 
the city of Washington throughout the south- 
ern States. Its existence iX all, must be 
considered, by every honest mind, as a national 
disgrace, and 66 forms a blot in the escutcheon 
of America which all the waters of the Atlantic 
cannot wash out." Difficulties may exist, and 
emancipation may be gradual, but let it be 
pursued both by England and America, as abso- 
lutely necessary. " I tremble for my country," 
said a late president of the United States, Mr. 
Jefferson, " I tremble for my country, when I 
reflect that God is just." Humanity may miti- 
gate their sufferings, and habit render the 
slaves less sensible of their degradation, but 
their general state is truly pitiable, and that of 
severe affliction. 

" Hark ! heard ye not that piercing cry 
Which shook the waves and rent the sky ? 
E'en now, e'en now, on yonder western shores 
Weeps pale despair, and writhing anguish roars." 

It is a melancholy fact that they find it more 
advantageous to breed slaves in the western 
parts of Virginia and Georgia, than to raise the 
appropriate produce of the soil, and there are 



214 



SLAVERY, 



seasons when many hundreds, if not thousands, 
are driven down like cattle to New Orleans for 
sale in the markets. In the more immediate 
want of slaves, advertisements like the follow- 
ing, which I copied from a Virginia Newspaper, 
under date of July, 1825, are frequently to be 
met with. 

" CASH FOR NEGROES." 

" A liberal price to be paid for a few likely 
young Negroes, men and women," &c. &c. 

And one of the papers advertized for sale, 
"An excellent servant, 26 years old, with, or 
without a child, six months old." 

" What is man ? and what man seeing this, 
And having human feeling, does not blush, 
And hang his head, to think himself a man'?" 

It is in those changes, however, which are 
now spreading over the globe, that we look for 
an alteration in the brutalizing and cruel sys- 
tem of slavery. A system, which England and 
the United States never can perpetuate. The 
tide of the world is happily in opposition to it ; 
and the general wish of the people in Great 
Britain and America will, no doubt, by a suc- 
cession of steps, at length prevail. It is only by 
monopoly, that the slave system can be main- 



NEW YORK. 



taincd ; for in the more enlightened policy of 
governments in fostering the rising liberties of 
the worlds all monopolies will cease. Free 
labour will be brought into competition, and 
found far more valuable than the labour of 
slaves ; and a free market will be opened to a 
fair competition in the sale of sugar, which will 
gradually knock off every fetter, and enfran- 
chise millions of our fellow men, who are now 
enslaved under the guilt of cruelty and injustice. 

The city of New York is in north latitude, 
about 40, and situated at the mouth of one 
of the finest rivers in the world, called the 
Hudson, which opens a free communication 
with Albany, and many other inland towns 
towards Canada, and the Lakes. The streets 
are long and regular, and the houses good : and 
it claims the pre-eminence of all other cities 
in the United States, as the London of America, 
from the extent of its population, excellent 
markets, and yielding in tonnage and customs 
to the Republic, nearly one half of its revenue. 
Except the City Hall, there are but few public 
buildings worthy of particular notice. As a 
favourite promenade, the Battery is deservedly 
so, though wanting space for the numbers who 
resort there on summer evenings. — A beautiful 
Bay expands before it, presenting to the eye 



216 



NEW YORK, 



vessels of every description arriving and sailing 
with every breeze that blows. — The inhabitants 
of this great commercial city strike the eye 
of a stranger, landing immediately from the 
opposite shores, as generally of a consumptive 
habit, wanting that healthy appearance, and 
florid complexion, which characterize the 
English. Mendicity was no where to be seen. 
I was never arrested by the voice of the beggar 
in the streets ; nor is the eye or ear of the 
public at any time offended with profligate 
females, as in the metropolis of the mother 
country. Every where you see an active, 
inquisitive, enterprising people, and the whole 
state is flourishing in her internal improve- 
ments, to an extent unparalleled in any other 
state in the union. Religious Societies are 
upon the advance, and appear to be conducted 
with an increasing and well-directed zeal ; while 
the whole population of America, consisting 
of more than eleven millions, scattered over an 
extent of more than one million of square 
miles, is every hour becoming a more numerous, 
and a more reading population. The light of 
science and the arts is diffusing its influence 
through every part of the rapidly-growing 
Commonwealth; while every facility is afforded 
to the instruction of the rising generation at 



CLIMATE. 



217 



large. 4 We regard a general system of edu- 
cation (said an American orator) as a wise and 
liberal system of policy, by which property, 
and life, and the peace of society are secured. 
We seek to prevent in some measure the ex- 
tension of the Penal Code, by giving sound and 
scriptural knowledge at an early age ; and we 
hope for a security beyond the law, and above 
the law, in the prevalence of enlightened and 
well-principled moral sentiment.' Nor is the 
education of the Indians neglected. It appears 
by an official statement, that c The American 
Government appropriates the sum of ten thou- 
sand dollars annually for their civilization,, 
which is producing very beneficial effects, by 
improving the condition of the various Tribes 
in the United States ; already thirty-two Schools 
are established in the Indian nations, and for 
the most part are well-conducted, in which, 
during the past year, nine hundred and sixteen 
youths of both sexes, have been instructed in 
reading, writing, arithmetic, and all the ordi- 
nary occupations of life. So large a body of 
well-instructed youths, of whom several hun- 
dred will annually return to their homes, 
cannot fail to effect a beneficial change in the 
condition of this unhappy race.' 

The climate of New York is variable in the 



218 



SUDDEN DEATHS. 



extremes of heat and cold, and must in a 
degree affect the constitution from the sudden 
transitions of the weather. The direct heat of 
the sun at the time of my arrival, was unusually 
great, and very oppressive. The thermometer 
stood at 97, and 98, in the shade, and ranged 
from 120, to 130, in the sun. In consequence 
of this excessive heat, a greater mortality pre- 
vailed, than ever ordinarily happened in the 
city in one week before. Nearly sixty sud- 
den deaths occurred — thirty-three principally 
among the Irish labourers from drinking cold 
water, and others from apoplexy, and inflama- 
tion of the brain. So vast a country as 
America, extending on each side of the equator 
nearly from the north to the southern pole, 
must necessarily have every variation of soil, 
as of climate. From the richness of its natural 
productions, it has been justly called c A 
treasury of nature,' holding out every en- 
couragement to industry, and all that can 
engage the enterprize of man. Should the 
people of this immense continent be formed 
eventually into great Independent States, they 
promise to become, in union, the most power- 
ful and happy people in the world. 6 The eyes 
of the oppressed are even now turning wist- 
fully (says an able writer on the advancement 



BOSTON. 



219 



of society) to this land of freedom, and the 
kings of the continent already regard with awe 
and disquietude the new Rome rising in the 
west, the foreshadows of whose greatness yet 
to be, are extending dark and heavy over their 
dominions, and obscuring the lustre of their 
thrones.' 

Leaving New York, I proceeded on my way 
to Boston, the cradle of the revolutionary war, 
and 'the head quarters of Unitarianism/ a 
sentiment that prevails not only in this capital, 
but also in many towns in New England. The 
city, like that of New York, presents a flourish- 
ing population, and the style of buildings, 
manners, customs, and dress of the citizens 
indicate a refined and happy state of society. 
Boston, however, has much more the appear- 
ance of an English town, than New York ; and 
the park, called c the Mall/ consisting of more 
than forty acres, adds much to the beauty of 
the city, and the comfort of the inhabitants. 
There is an independent air, and coldness of 
manner, which at first prejudices travellers ; but 
the kindness and hospitality, with the good 
sense and intelligence, I generally met with, 
led me to conclude that some of my country- 
men had not stated correctly the American 
character. There is one peculiarity however 



220 



SALEM. 



in American habits, which is particularly- 
offensive to strangers, that of spitting, from the 
use of tobacco. This nauseous custom is not 
confined to one class of persons, but is prac- 
tised by those, who, in every other respect, are 
gentlemen. Travellers may also be annoyed 
at times, with the national foible of gascon- 
ading, which has led some of their acute and 
sensible men, to say jocosely, c that they expect 
their countrymen will soon begin to assert, 
that they are not only the most powerful, and 
the most learned, but the oldest nation in the 
world/ 

The roads from Boston are as good as the 
turnpike roads of England, and such was the 
prevailing spirit of opposition among the coach 
proprietors, that we travelled some stages nearly 
at the rate of ten miles an hour. In passing 
through Salem, on my way to Portland, the 
capital of the State of Maine, the town recalled 
to my mind, the intolerant and persecuting 
spirit of the Puritans, towards their countrymen, 
who accompanied them as exiles to the shores of 
America, from the unrelenting severity and per- 
secution of Archbishop Laud, and the troublous 
times oi Charles the First. These refugees crossed 
the Atlantic for the sake of liberty of conscience 
in matters of religion ; but no sooner did some 



EDUCATION. 



221 



of them obtain power in legislative assembly, 
than, by a strange infatuation, they denied to 
their brethren in the wilderness, the same 
indefeasible right and privilege. They re- 
newed, in the bigotry and narrow prejudices 
of their minds, the persecutions and tortures, 
which the primitive Christians had to endure ; 
and blindly supposed to effect that by cruelty 
and death, which their own experience should 
have convinced them could only be reached by 
persuasion, and altered by conviction. At the 
same time, numbers were tortured, hung, and 
exposed on gibbets, and many burnt to death, 
for the supposed crime of witchcraft ; till at 
length, the minds of these deluded fanatics 
were seized with remorse, and a chain of 
events followed, which gave to the inhabitants 
of New England, the blessings of a diffusive 
education, and a full enjoyment of the freedom 
of religious opinion. Such indeed is the facility 
of instruction now afforded to every branch of 
the community, through the means of district 
or parochial schools, that it is a rare circum- 
stance to meet an individual who cannot read 
and write, and converse in an intelligent man- 
ner on all common subjects ; or a driver of a 
stage, who will not e guess ' and 4 calculate ' 
politics admirably. It is seldom that you hear 



222 



EDUCATION. 



the English language so badly spoken among 
those who hire themselves as 6 helps' in families 
in America, as you do amongst servants in 
England. In the progress of refinement it was 
mentioned as a fact, that c a young woman meet- 
ing lately a former fellow-servant, asked her 
how she liked her new place, 6 Very well, ' was 
her reply ; c Then you have nothing to complain 
of?' 'Nothing,' said she, 'only master and 
mistress talk such very bad grammar.' Their 
education and religious instruction have given 
the New Englanders so decided a cast of na- 
tional character, that they are distinguished 
among the Americans, like the Scots among 
Europeans, as a moral, intelligent, enterprizing 
people. 

Like the Americans in general, they are very 
fond of anniversaries, public meetings, ora- 
tions, and rejoicings, by which all classes are 
reminded of those events which led to their 
independence. The term c Yankee,' is, in 
good humour, particularly applied to them, and 
is said to be derived from c Yankoo, ' the 
name of a hostile tribe of Indians, who were 
overcome by the first settlers, to whom the 
vanquished chief gave the name, that it might 
not become extinct. It is from the true-born 
Yankees that the United States government 



PENOBSCOT BAY. 



223 



look principally for the supply of a hardy 
intrepid race of seamen for their navy. 

I met with no Indians till I reached Penob- 
scot Bay, in the neighbourhood of which is a 
tribe who have cultivated lands, and are sta- 
tionary the greater part of the year. Their 
numbers may be about two hundred and fifty ; 
and being of the Roman Catholic religion, as 
are all the Indians of the adjoining British 
provinces, they are visited by a minister of that 
persuasion, from Boston, every summer. An 
attempt has lately been made by an association 
of benevolent individuals to establish a Pro- 
testant school, with a view to teach them 
English, and rescue them from the thraldom of 
a superstitious and idolatrous faith ; but this 
laudable attempt has failed for the present, 
through the opposition and influence of the 
Catholic priest. After this minister has spent 
some time with the Penobscot tribe, he pro- 
ceeds in his missionary excursion to visit that 
of Passamaquoddy, which consists of about the 
same number of souls, who live in a village, on 
a tongue of land called Point Pleasant, in the 
Bay of Passamaquoddy. 

I visited this Indian village, on my arrival at 
Eastport, a small town on the boundary line of 
America and the British territories, and was 



224 



INDIAN VILLAGE. 



courteously received by the Catholic priest, 
who happened then to be resident among the 
Indians. He showed me a small neat chapel, 
where he officiated, a neat dwelling-house be- 
longing to a chief called Saccho Beeson, and 
about twenty-five huts, which were very inferior 
and dirty in their arrangement. Near to these 
buildings is a log-house of about fifty feet long, 
where they meet to hold their 'Talk' on any 
public question that concerns them, and which 
is used also for their favourite amusement of 
dancing. In the course of conversation, I 
asked the Roman Catholic priest, whether he 
had any school for the instruction of the Indian 
children, and what he taught the Indians ? His 
reply was, that he had no school ; but showing 
me a manuscript copy of a prayer to the Virgin 
Mary, and a form called 'Confiteor,' in the 
Indian language, he remarked, ' These, Sir, 
are what we teach the Indians.' It was grati- 
fying to find that an experienced and zealous 
Protestant missionary was making an effort to 
improve the state of this tribe, who, like that 
of Penobscot, were under the degrading in- 
fluence of their religious creed. With a view 
to effect this, he had erected a school-house in 
the village, to afford gratuitous instruction in 
English, to those Indian children or adults, 



MISSIONARY. 



225 



who might regularly attend at the appointed 
school-hours. The missionary informed me 
that he had many scholars before the arrival of 
the Catholic priest, but afterwards the numbers 
were greatly diminished. He appeared, how- 
ever, determined to persevere in his benevolent 
and truly Christian labours, as he was supported 
by the high authorities, was patronized, and 
received pecuniary aid from the United States 
government and the government of the State 
of Maine. The Maine Missionary Society also 
encouraged him, in the hope of preventing that 
open opposition and direct influence which had 
been shown against the establishment of an 
English school among the Penobscot Indians. 
His plan was, in affording instruction to the 
children, to give to their parents implements 
of husbandry, to encourage them in the culti- 
vation of the soil ; and I saw an acre of wheat 
which one of the chiefs had sown, on receiving 
the above assistance, with seed corn, that pro- 
mised to reward his active industry, by a 
plentiful crop. These Indians, though located 
within the boundary line of the United States, 
have intercourse with those of the British pro- 
vince of New Brunswick, and sometimes meet 
them on the river Saint John, to smoke the 
calumet, and brighten the chain of friendship. 

Q 



226 



LOYALISTS. 



Returning to Eastport, I took my passage in 
the steam-boat across the Bay of Fundv. and 
landed, through a protecting Providence, on 
the 8th of August, at Saint John, New Bruns- 
wick. This city is situated on a rocky penin- 
sula, in latitude 45° 20', and took its rise in the 
the year 1783, when the peace with America 
left the loyalists, who had followed the British 
standard, to seek an asylum in some part of 
the British dominions. It is stated that more 
than four thousand persons, men, women, and 
children, sailed from New York for the river 
Saint John, at that period. The coast was rugged, 
and the whole aspect of the country dreary and 
uninviting, as they landed on the point where 
the city now stands. Nothing was to be seen, 
but a few huts erected on the margin of a dark 
immense wilderness, and occasionally some of 
the natives, clothed principally with the skins 
of animals, particularly the moose-deer, which 
were then numerous in the forests. The situ- 
ation of these emigrants was of a very trying 
nature, as they had to undergo every privation 
and suffering during the rigours of the ensuing 
winter. The difficulties which they encoun- 
tered, in first clearing the lands, seemed for 
some time to be almost insurmountable ; and 
this is generally the case with all first settlers, 



VALE OF SUSSEX. 



227 



who engage in the arduous enterprize of 
breaking into new and uncultivated wilds. 
They are often known to wear out their lives 
in toil and labour, for the benefit of those who 
come after them, and who reap, comparatively 
speaking, where they have not sown. The 
flourishing state of the city, however, since it 
took its rise, in a few log and bark huts, about 
forty years ago, and the rising prosperity of 
numerous settlements, though confined prin- 
cipally as yet to the borders of rivers and well 
watered vallies, speak volumes in favour of the 
active, persevering, successful industry, and 
enterprizing spirit of the loyalists and people 
of the province, and of the advantageous fos- 
tering care of the British Government. 

I left Saint John the following morning after 
my arrival in the city, for the Vale of Sussex, 
which presents to the eye some beautifully 
picturesque views, on the river Kennebeckasis, 
as its tributary streams bend their course 
through some good and well cultivated farms. 
This settlement, in its first formation, was 
much indebted to the active energy and inde- 
pendent public spirit of the late Hon. George 
Leonard, who lived in a spacious and handsome 
residence in this pleasant valley. Near to the 
village is a fine spring, from which salt of an 

Q 2 



22S 



INDIANS. 



excellent quality is made, for the table and 
culinary purposes ; and if the water were ana- 
lyzed, it would no doubt be found to possess 
some valuable medicinal qualities. This vale 
holds out every encouragement to increased 
industry and improvement, as it possesses many 
advantages in point of situation and fertility of 
soil, and has the great road of communication 
passing through it to the adjoining province 
of Nova Scotia. 

The Indians formerly resorted to it in con- 
siderable numbers, it was their rendezvous in 
starting or returning from the chace ; but since 
the woods have been driven of animals, and 
the soil occupied or taken up by the settlers, 
they are seldom now seen on the track, in their 
wandering state of existence. 

In the hope of benefiting and improving 
their condition, an establishment was formed 
in the valley, by the New England Company, 
soon after the first settlement of the province, 
called, ( The Academy for instructing and civ- 
ilizing the Indians.' It was liberally placed, 
by the incorporated Society in London, under 
the management and direction of a board of 
commissioners, that consisted of the leading 
authorities of the province, Little or no ad- 
vantage, however, accrued to the Indians from 



INDIANS. 



229 



those plans which were adopted at the Academy 
for meliorating their state, and, in the terms of 
the charter, 6 To propagate and advance the 
Christian and Protestant religion among them.* 
For a series of years every attempt failed, in 
the way of effecting any permanent change, or 
producing any substantial good among this 
degraded portion of our fellow-men ; for after 
the Company had incurred a heavy expense, 
they reverted to their migratory habits of life, 
and again fell under the influence of the Roman 
Catholic priests. Nor has the more recent 
plan of the Establishment, as recommended to 
the Society at home, by the Board of Comis- 
sioners in the province, been attended with 
much better success towards civilizing and 
raising the Indians in the moral scale of being. 
The principle that was adopted, of apprenticing 
their children, at an early age, to different 
settlers, I found was not generally approved 
by the Indians themselves, nor has the plan 
proved beneficial to their morals. Under these 
circumstances, the New England Company 
have resolved upon breaking up the establish- 
ment, and would seek, in the application of 
their funds, for further good than they have 
heretofore met with among our Red brethren 
of the wilderness. 



230 



INDIANS. 



It is not by such means, however, nor any 
similar forced process that has been acted upon, 
nor any means that compel them to be " hewers 
of wood and drawers of water," in a menial 
capacity, that a just expectation can be raised 
of any conversion in their state. Their natur- 
ally high and independent spirit must be con- 
sulted in the attempt to do them good ; and 
this is best done by encouraging them, on all 
favourable occasions, to become settlers on 
their own lands, or lands which in common 
justice should be assigned to them, as the 
original proprietors of the soih An Indian 
sees acutely all the relative stations in society, 
and feels keenly the contempt with which he 
is often treated by white people, on account of 
the colour of his skin. A short time ago, 
Saccho Beeson, a chief of the Passamaquoddy 
tribe, accompanied a deputation of Indians to 
a convention in the state of Maine, for the pur- 
pose of asserting their right of property in the 
land where they were located. At the house 
of accommodation they were put into a back 
room for the night, with a small bit of a candle, 
where the boots of a considerable number of 
persons, who had arrived for the meeting, were 
left. The next day this spirited chief com- 
plained to the assembly, how badly Indians 



INDIANS. 



231 



were accommodated ; and being asked to state 
what he had to complain of, said, c Boots too 
much, and light too little. 1 

The Indians, not being encouraged to inter- 
marry or mix with white people on terms of 
equality 3 have receded as a distinct people, or 
have been driven before those who have car- 
ried commerce, with civilization, far into the 
wilderness and lands of their forefathers. And 
it cannot be otherwise than affecting to an 
honest and feeling mind, to recollect the way 
in which Europeans first obtained a footing in 
their country, and the possession of their patri- 
mony. 6 You look sorry, brother/ said an 
American general to an Indian chief, who was 
on a visit to the city of New York, c Is there 
any thing to distress you?' 6 I'll tell you, 
brother,' said he, c I have been looking at your 
beautiful city, the great water, your fine country, 
and see how happy you all are. But then, I 
could not help thinking, that this fine country, 
and this great water, were once our's. Our 
ancestors lived here ; they enjoyed it as their 
own, in peace ; it was the gift of the Great 
Spirit to them and their children. At last 
the white people came here in a great canoe ; 
they asked only to let them tie it to a tree, 
lest the water should carry it away : we 



232 



INDIANS, 



consented. They then said, some of their 
people were sick, and they asked permission to 
land them, and put them under the shade of 
the tree. The ice then came, and they could 
not go away ; they then begged a piece of land 
to build wigwams for the winter : we granted 
it. They then asked for some corn, to keep 
them from starving: we kindly furnished it. 
They promised to go away when the ice was 
gone ; when this happened, we told them they 
must now go away with their big canoe ; but 
they pointed to their big guns around their 
wigwams, and said they would stay there ; and 
we could not make them go away. Afterwards 
more came. They brought spirituous and in- 
toxicating liquors, of which the Indians became 
very fond. They persuaded us to sell them 
some land. Finally they drove us back from 
time to time into the wilderness, far from the 
water, the fish, and the oysters. They have 
destroyed our game, our people are wasted 
away, and we live miserable and wretched, 
while you are enjoying our fine and beautiful 
country. This makes me sorry, brother, and I 
cannot help it.' 

It would be a long and a heart-rending tale, 
to recount the various acts of cruelty, rapacity, 
and injustice, with which they have been gen- 



INDIANS. 



233 



erally treated by Europeans, sinee they first 
invaded their forests and usurped their soil. 
' Society/ says Washington Irving, c has ad- 
vanced upon them like a many-headed monster, 
breathing every variety of misery. Before it 
went forth pestilence, famine, and the sword ; 
and in its train came the slow but exterminating 
curse of trade : what the former did not sweep 
away, the latter has gradually blighted.' 

But we would turn from the sad review of 
what has passed in the history of these long 
injured aboriginal tribes, and indulge the hope 
that a just sympathy has at length been 
awakened towards those who remain, as claim- 
ing not only the commiseration, but the moral 
and religious care of Great Britain and America. 
The partial success which has indeed followed 
the occasional efforts of the American govern- 
ment for the civilization of the Indians, de- 
monstrates the fact, and confirms to the utmost, 
that it is practicable to civilize, and evangelize 
this, hitherto, generally neglected, and suffer- 
ing portion of our fellow-men. Let spirituous 
liquors be prohibited from deluging their 
country in the prosecution of an unequal 
traffic. Let their tomahawk and scalping 
knife never again be pressed into any contest 
whatever on the part of professed Christians. 
Let them be met with brotherly kindness, and 



234 



INDIANS. 



with active and generous exertion to benefit 
their condition, by aiding their own efforts, 
and promoting their location in every pos- 
sible way ; then, may we look for the solitude 
of the remaining wilderness to be broken, 
in the establishment of Indian villages, and 
Indian settlements. Tribe after tribe, and 
nation after nation, have heretofore vanished 
away, and no wonder, — from the system of 
exclusion and oppression that has been acted 
upon towards them by the whites ; who have 
treated them as outcasts, and placed them in 
the scale of humanity, so low, and so distant, 
as for the most part to exclude them from their 
sympathy. But why should the North Ame- 
rican Indian be thought incapable of that 
moral, civil, and religious elevation, which has 
been experienced by the South Sea Islanders, 
the natives of Greenland, and of the Cape ? 
There is nothing in their nature, nor is there 
any deficiency in their intellect, that should 
consign them to perpetual degradation, and to 
that cold-blooded philosophy, and infidel sen- 
timent, of 'Let them alone; — to take mea- 
sures to preserve the Indians, is to take measures 
to preserve so much barbarity, helplessness, 
and want ; and therefore do not resist the 
order of Providence which is carrying them 
away ! ' 



CHAPTER II. 



INDIANS. BELLEISLE STRAITS. MI RA MIC HI DESTROYED 

BY FIRE. BAY OF ANNAPOLIS NOVA SCOTIA. INDIANS. 

FUR TRADE. ADELAH. --MISSIONARIES. NEGRO VIL- 
LAGE. AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY. RETURN 

TO NEW BRUNSWICK. F RED ERIC STOW N . POPULATION 

OF NEW BRUNSWICK.— CLIMATE. THE SOCIETY FOR THE 

PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL. BAPTISM. ITINERANT 

PREACHING. 

After a short residence at Sussex Vale, I set 
off in the discharge of my mission, on a visit 
to the Indians along the eastern shore of the 
Province ; and travelled in a light waggon, 
drawn by one horse, though they are sometimes 
drawn by two horses abreast, as the usual 
mode of travelling in the country. I found a 
few Indian families in the neighbourhood of 
Shediac, and these of the Micmac tribe. Some 
of this nation are to be met with in the whole 
line of coast, lying between Bay Verte, and 
Chaleur Bay, on the gulf of Saint Lawrence. 
A few who have intermarried with the French, 
are become stationary with them in villages 



236 



INDIANS. 



at, or near Buctouehe, Richibucto, Miramichi, 
and at other points along the shore. But the 
greater part of them are met wandering from 
one settlement to another, squalid and dis- 
pirited, under circumstances of great com- 
miseration. Their strength is enervated, and 
their diseases are multiplied, through the pre- 
vailing habits of idleness and drunkenness ; 
which have sunk them far below the true 
Indian character. They are reduced to a po- 
verty that is unknown to them in their native 
wilds, and which corrodes, like a canker, their 
very hearts. They are of the Roman Catholic 
persuasion, as are the Indians of the adjoining 
territory in Lower Canada, and are so dis- 
ciplined, that many of them wear the crucifix 
fastened over the right shoulder, so as to hang 
upon the left breast, near the heart. Such is 
the influence of the Priests, that they regulate 
their marriages, appoint certain times in the 
year for them to collect, and attend their 
superstitious ceremonies, and at the same time 
supply them with a form, or instruct them in 
an idolatrous act of worship to the Virgin 
Mary in their camps. — It does not appear that 
any of the natives have crossed the Gulf, to the 
opposite coast of Newfoundland ; or that there 
are any savages who dwell among the rocks, 



MI RAM IC HI DESTROYED BY FIRE. 237 



and traverse the inland and unknown parts of 
that island, throughout the year, Newfoundland 
being separated from the shores of Labrador 
only by a channel of moderate breadth, known 
by the name of Belleisle Straits, it is more than 
probable, that hunting parties of Esquimaux 
Indians, like those met with in Hudson's 
Straits, pass over for the hunting season, and 
return to that dreary continent for the winter. 

I could not but reflect with gratitude, on 
escaping, in my tour along the coast, from that 
dreadful conflagration, which raged for a hun- 
dred miles or more in width, and destroyed 
Miramichi, and the surrounding Settlements, 
on the night of October the 7th. I had deter- 
mined upon a visit to the above town, but was 
providentially prevented reaching it ; and had 
scarcely returned to the vale, before the atmos- 
phere became so dense with smoke, which pre- 
vailed throughout the Province, as to excite 
fearful apprehensions, that large fires were ap- 
proaching us in the woods. Almost every one 
ran occasionally to the door, under the expec- 
tation of seeing the flames burst forth ; nor 
were our fears allayed, till the air became clear, 
and the surrounding country opened again to 
our view. Then the melancholy tale reached 
us of the above dreadful calamity ; and we 



238 MIRAMICHI DESTROYED BY FIRE. 

found that a fire had also nearly destroyed 
Fredericstown, the seat of Government, together 
with the Government House, the residence cf 
His Excellency, the Lieut. Governor of the 
Province. On the day preceding the destruc- 
tive visitation at Miramichi, the air was clouded 
with smoke, and it was intensely close, but no 
particular alarm was felt by the inhabitants, 
till a rumbling noise was heard to the north of 
the Settlement ; which increased rapidly during 
a dead calm and pitchy darkness that prevailed, 
about half-past seven on the following night. 
The calm however was soon disturbed by the 
rushing of a strong breeze, bringing with it 
some sparks and cinders of the sweeping devas- 
tation that was swiftly approaching. A violent 
hurricane almost instantaneously followed, 
pouring down upon the town immense masses 
of flames, ashes, and hot sand, to its immediate 
ruin, and that of the adjoining Settlements. To 
describe the scene (said an eye witness) at this 
awful period, is beyond the power of language. 
It resembled more the immediate interposition 
of the hand of the Almighty, than the rage of 
the elements, in an ordinary state of convulsion. 
The flames were of such magnitude, and withal 
so furious, that they seemed unlike the fires of 
this world ; when ever they grasped a building, 



MIRAMICHI DESTROYED BY FIRE. 239 



instantaneous destruction was the consequence ; 
men were seen trembling with fear, and women 
shrieking, ran with their children to the shore, 
in the hope of escaping the destroying element 
on rafts, logs, or any buoyant article that mighc 
float them. At the same time was hearc the 
bellowing of the terrified cattle, and the roaring 
of the flames ; these, together with the general 
illumination, presented a spectacle which ima- 
gination would fail to describe. The hurricane 
raged so tremendously at some points, that 
large bodies of burning timber, and parts of the 
flaming houses, were carried to the rivers with 
astonishing velocity, and so affected the water, 
as to occasion, in the shallow places, large quan- 
tities of salmon, and other fish, to spring on the 
shore. They were seen afterwards lying along 
the sand, by hundreds, and many human bodies 
also, that had been burnt, and drowned in the 
wide and terrible devastation. Property to the 
amount of about three hundred thousand 
pounds is stated to have been destroyed ; but 
what is property, when compared with the lives 
of nearly two hundred persons who were de- 
voured by the flames, or perished by the waters r 
The awful catastrophe speaks volumes, and is 
well calculated to excite enquiries for our sal- 
vation, at the final audit which will suddenly 



•240 MIRAMICHI DESTROYED BY FIRE. 

take place, with " the crush of matter and wreck 
of worlds." St. Paul drew such a vivid repre- 
sentation of that day, that Felix as a wicked 
Prince, trembled upon his throne. His mind 
bore testimony to the fact of a future judgment, 
which is described by St. Peter, with the con- 
flagration of the earth, in such majesty of style, 
that we almost see the flames ascending into 
the midst of Heaven, feel the elements melting 
with fervent heat, and hear the groans of a 
world expiring in universal ruin. 

What must have been the apprehensions of 
those who witnessed the tremendous scene, 
whilst standing in dread alarm, lest they should 
fall victims to the fury of the devouring flames ! 
Surely indifference must have been roused to 
consideration, and infidelity turned pale with 
astonishment and terror. Under such circum- 
stances of dismay, how heart-cheering and 
supporting must have been the belief and con- 
templation of a refuge from this, and every 
subsequent infliction of divine vengeance, a 
refuge which that God " who rides in the whirl- 
wind and directs the storm," has himself pro- 
vided in the mediation and atonement of Jesus 
Christ. How strongly is the contemplative 
mind which dwells on the distressing tale car- 
ried forward to a more tremendous event, to a 



BAY OF ANNAPOLIS, NOVA SCOTIA. 241 



more enduring storm of which all shall be eye- 
witnesses, and in which all shall be personally 
concerned. At that appalling season when 
those who passed the hours of life in careless 
indifference, shall be crying, Help ! Help ! 
against the terrors of the Lord ; then shall 
every one who has fled to Him as the refuge 
from the wrath to come, find in that refuge an 
adequate shelter from that last, the decisive 
storm. 

In the month of October, I took the Packet 
Boat from St. John, to the bay of Annapolis, 
Nova Scotia. This peninsula was originally 
called Acadia, by the French, who began a 
Settlement in it as early as 1604, before they 
took possession, or had built the smallest hut 
in Canada. On their first arrival they found 
the country, and the neighbouring forests, 
peopled with small nations of Indians, who 
went under the common name of Abenakies. 
They were generally of more sociable manners, 
though equally fond of raising the war-whoop 
with other Indian nations. The fur trade was 
soon opened with these natives, and the Church 
of Rome was not idle in sending Missionaries 
among them, for the purpose of propagating 
her Faith. Every Jesuitical means was used, 
and that successfully, in bringing them to a 

R 



242 



INDIANS. 



profession of the Roman Catholic religion. Far 
better had it been, however, that the Indians 
had never known the French, than ardent 
spirits should have been introduced, as a me- 
dium of barter in the fur trade. It was no 
sooner tasted by the natives, than they became 
passionately fond of it, and spirituous liquors 
were found to be the most pernicious and des- 
tructive article that the old world ever shipped 
for the new. It appeared impossible for them 
to use it with moderation ; and when intoxicated, 
it awakened every savage disposition, that led 
to quarrels, which frequently terminated in the 
murder of husbands, wives, and children. The 
French, prompted by avarice, extended this 
evil, as they afterwards took possession of, and 
planted trading posts, in the Canadas, for the 
prosecution of the fur trade. Others followed, 
and engaged in the same traffic ; and the bane- 
ful effects of bartering in spirituous liquors, is 
seen in the track of the fur trader, as he opened 
a communication with the Indians, through 
successive periods, far into the interior, and 
immense wildernesses of North America. 

The present Indians of Nova Scotia, are all 
one nation, known by the name of Micmacs, 
and were among other natives the original in- 
habitants of the country. They are by no means 



INDIANS. 



243 



numerous, and are fast diminishing in numbers, 
as they wander, like those of New Brunswick, 
in extreme wretchedness, and detached parties, 
throughout the Province. Many of them are 
found along the Annapolis River, who encamp 
at the entrance of the bay, for the purpose of 
shooting porpoises, during the season in sum- 
mer. They are very expert in killing this ani- 
mal, as it rises upon the water, which is a great 
source of amusement as well as of profit. It 
supplies them with food, and were they not 
altogether regardless of to-morrow, the oil 
which they obtain in boiling the fish, might be 
the means of furnishing them with many neces- 
saries in barter, for the winter. I reached the 
camp soon after this season was over, and the 
Indians had returned from a successful excur- 
sion, in hunting the moose-deer in the neigh- 
bouring woods. Their chief, Adelah, is a person 
of very sober habits, and naturally of a pene- 
trating, sagacious mind. He had visited Eng- 
land, and expressed much regret that he did 
not see his great father, with the four Canadian 
chiefs, who were in London, and introduced to 
the king, in the spring of 1825. 

The conscious independence of an Indian, 
will sometimes lead him to speak of monarchs 
as his equal : and though he acknowledges, 

r 2 



244 



MISSIONARIES. 



that some have more power, or are heads of 
larger tribes than himself, yet such is his native 
pride, and freedom of manners, that he would 
enter a palace with as much ease as a fisherman's 
hut. The wild range of the woods, and the 
waters which expand to his view, are the open 
and free source from whence, by his own exer- 
tions, he derives a supply for his wants. He 
naturally possesses a high degree of self-import- 
ance ; he differs greatly in sentiment and opi- 
nion, and in his mode of life* from civilized 
man, who is under the influence of artificial 
wants ; as well as from those who derive a pre- 
carious subsi stance, in confirmed habits of 
dependence upon others. It cannot then be 
reasonably expected that a high independent 
chief will leave, with his tribe, the full range of 
their liberty through the forests and the plains, 
and enter the pale of civilization with the 
whites, through any means of servitude and 
subjection, or seek to adopt their habits and 
sentiments, without a steady encouragement, 
and a certainty of enjoying all their rights and 
privileges. When a Missionary Society in Scot- 
land sent two Missionaries for propagating the 
Gospel to the Delaware nation of Indians, the 
chiefs assembled in council, and after delib- 
erating for fourteen days, sent back the Mis- 



MISSIONARIES. 



245 



sionaries very courteously, with the following 
answer : 6 They rejoiced exceedingly at our 
happiness in being thus favoured by the Great 
Spirit, and felt very grateful that we had con- 
descended to remember our brethren in the 
wilderness. But they could not help recollect- 
ing that we had a people among us, who because 
they differed from us in colour, we had made 
slaves of, and made them suffer great hardships, 
and lead miserable lives. Nov/ they could not 
see any reason, if a people being black entitled 
us thus to deal with them, why a red colour 
would not equally justify the same treatment. 
They therefore had determined to wait, to see 
whether all the black people amongst us were 
made thus happy, and joyful, before they could 
put confidence in our promises ; for they thought 
a people who had suffered so much, and so long, 
by our means, should be entitled to our first 
attention ; that therefore they had sent back 
the two missionaries, with many thanks, pro- 
mising, that when they saw the black people 
among us restored to freedom and happiness, 
they would gladly receive our missionaries.' 

Adelah, however, expressed a great desire to 
settle with his tribe, on lands for which he had 
often made application, as contiguous to their 
fishing and hunting grounds, but which he had 



'246 



ADELAH, 



not then obtained. His country, he said, was 
getting very poor, and the soil almost all taken 
up by people who came to it, which made him 
wish to raise some produce from the land, and 
see his Indians, with their families, in better 
circumstances. "I go," he remarked, "once 
more about the grant, may be they think I 
come too often, perhaps turn their back, then I 
turn my back, and never ask again." 

This intelligent chief would often take me 
into his canoe, during my visit to his tribe, and 
in the course of conversation, frequently sur- 
prised rne with his pertinent and striking re- 
marks on the subject of religion. He expressed 
much surprise, and difficulty, at the many 
different denominations among Protestant 
Christians, which he had heard of. 4 There/ 
said he, pointing to a small cove in the Bay, 
as he was paddling his canoe along shore one 
morning, c I saw five or six persons plunged 
for baptism, a short time ago.' Then holding 
up the paddle, he added, as the water dripped 
from it, ' I think the Great Spirit can as easily 
bless that small quantity for the purpose, as 
he can all the water in the basin around us/ 
He is a decided Roman Catholic, as are all the 
Indians of the Province; and a circumstance 
occurred in the death of a child, while I was 



EDUCATION. 



247 



in the camp, which proved how strongly the 
Priests have entrenched them within the pale 
of their bigotry and dominion. I offered to 
bury the child, as they knew me to be a Priest, 
but they refused, with the remark, that it must 
be buried by their Priest ; and the mother of 
the deceased child took the corpse upon her 
back, and carried it the distance of thirty miles 
to the French village of Sissaboo, where the 
Priest resided, for burial. I merely observed 
to Adelah, on this occasion, that I supposed 
Indians were all of the Roman Catholic re- 
ligion, he said e yes J adding, ' you know in 
England, quakers, when born, all come little 
quakers, so Indians, all come little Catholics.' 

This being the case with the Indians of Nova 
Scotia, and New Brunswick, it would be look- 
ing upon a narrow horizon, not to perceive 
great difficulties in the way of affording them 
instruction in the English language, and seek- 
ing to propagate and advance the Christian and 
Protestant religion among them. Though of 
a Christian profession, they remain shrouded 
from the light of truth, from the Roman Cath- 
olic Priests being opposed to their receiving 
instruction in public schools, and to their being 
in possession of the Bible. Under these circum- 
stances, every moral obstacle presents itself in 



243 



EDUCATION. 



seeking to relieve their wandering wretchedness, 
and suffering degradation. c The powers that 
be/ however, owe them all necessary assistance 
and protection, in their location on lands, that 
should be unalienably reserved as their own 
proper ry, for the purpose of civilized life. And 
should benevolent exertions be made with a 
view to promote their best interests, let them 
be directed in the charitable attempt, yet by no 
means, forlorn hope, of effecting a change in 
the condition of these Indians. School-houses 
should be erected wherever they can be induced 
to settle, and teachers appointed, who would 
need a religious motive to cause them to per- 
severe in their truly arduous task, whilst acting 
towards them as their protectors, advisers, 
friends, and assistants in agricultural pursuits* 
By adopting such a system, with a view to 
benefit a long injured race of men, a national 
obligation would be discharged, charity would 
be duly exercised, and sound, scriptural, prac- 
tical information imparted to them. Educa- 
tion, as it advanced, in conveying the elements 
of real knowledge, would effectually destroy, 
through the divine blessing, the elements of 
superstition, and change that turn of mind on 
which superstition is founded. 

Near to the Indian camp was a village of 



AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 249 



people of colour, or negroes, who are found 
in considerable numbers with their families in 
different parts of both provinces. They were 
formerly slaves in America, and came over with 
the loyalists, at the conclusion of the revolu- 
tionary war. A few of them have ructled on 
lands, and accumulated by their industry, some 
property, but in general neither they, or their 
descendants are good settlers. They are ge- 
nerally employed as menial servants, while 
they are considered, as a degraded race, and 
looked upon by the whites, as persons who have 
no ascertained situation in society. Africa is 
their home ! their country ! as there is every 
inducement, so every encouragement should 
be given to their returning emigration. The 
American Colonization Society is actively en- 
gaged in the humane and benevolent object 
of transporting to Africa, those blacks who are 
willing to go, with those who are emancipated 
by their white masters. Though impediments 
and trials have attended their first efforts, yet 
the success which has followed the colonies of 
recaptured slaves, formed on the coast, by the 
British Government, and British liberality, 
promises every encouragement to perseverance 
on the part of America. A ship has just sailed 
with a number of these injured men, whose 



250 SABBATH WITH THE NEGROES. 

years of sufferings, as slaves, have been accom- 
plished ; and they return to their native shores, 
with the prayers of thousands that God would 
give them a prosperous voyage, and bless them 
out of the very depths of slavery to their coun- 
trymen. Many of them have gained some 
useful knowledge in their state of bondage, 
and may carry the ark of God to Africa, as the 
Israelites bore it, in their deliverance from 
Egypt, to the promised land. 

I spent a sabbath at the village, which con- 
sisted of about forty families of negroes, and 
preached to a goodly number of them assem- 
bled in a log house. They were very attentive, 
and their sable countenances directed towards 
me, awakened a sympathy which I cannot ex- 
press, while I spoke to them of that Divine 
Lord, who u once suffered for sins, the just for 
the unjust," of every tribe, kindred, tongue, 
and complexion of men, that he might bring us 
to God. Immediately after the service, a poor 
woman addressed me, saying, Massa ! me had 
good church. Then pointing to an elderly man, 
who sometimes visited and prayed with them 
in their affliction, she said, with much empha- 
sis, he, massa ! good Christianity-man, but 
massa ! me never had better church ! I found 
upon inquiry, that the name of a school was 



SOCIETY OF FRIENDS, 251 

retained among these distressed people, for the 
instruction of their children : but through a 
culpable negligence, no school was regularly- 
kept. The school house was fallen into a dila- 
pidated state, and the appointed schoolmaster 
appeared to be nearly superannuated, though 
in the receipt of twenty-five pounds, by an 
annual remittance from England, for his ex- 
pected employment in teaching the negro 
children. In an examination of more than 
twenty who happened to be at the Log House, 
not one of the children could read, or give me 
an answer to the most common, and simple 
questions in religion. 

It was gratifying to find that the Society of 
Friends, so distinguished for their steady, zea- 
lous, active opposition to the Slave Trade, had 
expressed their sympathy towards these people 
of colour in the wilderness. They had sent 
them papers of information, relative to the plans 
of the American Colonization Society, and were 
solicitous that they should return to their na- 
tive soil. Some of them had been accustomed 
to use the hoe, and the plough, and I was told 
of a few among them, who were tolerably good 
mechanics. They were far, however, from being 
industrious, and appeared altogether unsettled 
in their situation. Where this is the case, pro- 



252 RETURN TO NEW BRUNSWICK. 

fligacy and vice generally prevail ; but a new 
career, would probably await them in Africa, 
and they would be hailed, on their return, as 
introducing among their kindred race, what 
was useful, and encouraging in the formation 
of new settlements. 

Leaving these people, and the Indian camp, 
I returned to the province of New Brunswick : 
and soon after my arrival, His Excellency, the 
Lieutenant Governor, was pleased to favour me 
with his sentiments on the subject of the In- 
dians of the Province. I read the communica- 
tion with much interest, as expressing the most 
benevolent feelings towards them ; and the 
subsequent information which I obtained 
through visiting their several stations, con- 
vinced me, that His Excellency had in contem- 
plation the only feasible plan (combining 
system and ceconomy) for the purpose of re- 
claiming the Aborigines from the woods, to a 
social existence in villages on their own lands. 
Though more numerous than in the sister 
province of Nova Scotia, the Indians of New 
Brunswick, may probably, not far exceed two 
thousand. These are becoming more and more 
demoralized in their unsettled and wandering 
state, and it is a question of location, or ex- 
tinction of the remnant of a people, who were 



TEN TRIBES OF ISRAEL. 



253 



once sovereigns of the soil, at no very distant 
period. 

I found that a custom existed among- the 
Micmacs of Nova Scotia, of exposing an adul- 
tress to shame and punishment by the whole 
tribe. The crime, Adelah assured me was 
seldom known among them, but when guilty, 
the delinquent was placed on some eminence, 
and every one as they passed, men, women, 
and children, reminded her of her offence, and 
slapped her on her face with the hand. It was 
said that they formerly stoned the offender to 
death, which was the most general punishment 
denounced in the law of Moses against noto- 
rious criminals. Thus, a testimony is found, 
one here and another there, through the wilds 
of America, in favour of the idea that the North 
American Indians are of the Ten Tribes of 
Israel. The Hebrews not only had their tribes 
and heads of tribes as the Indians, but they had 
animal emblems also of their tribes. Dan's 
emblem was a serpent — Issachar's an ass — Ben- 
jamin's a wolf, and Judah's a lion. The Indians 
have their wolf-tribe, bear-tribe, buffaloe-tribe ; 
and a war club was given me by a warrior in 
the Hudson's Bay Company territories, with a 
turtle carved on it, as the distinguishing mark 
of that tribe. There can be little doubt, but 



254 TEN TRIBES OF ISRAEL, 

that these animal emblems of separate tribes 
among the natives were derived from Hebrew 
tradition. That various Heathen nations bor- 
dering on ancient Israel, should have learned 
something of their names of the true God, and 
of their theology, and should have brought 
down some traditionary notions of the creation, 
of the deluge, and Noah's ark, and some ge- 
neral accounts of early events taught in ancient 
tradition and revelation, is nothing strange. 
But that they should learn and adopt so much 
of the special rites of Israel's ceremonial law, as 
has in fact been found among the American 
Indians, such as separation for three moons, or 
eighty-four days at the birth of a female child, 
and forty days for that of a male child, and 
otherwise observing an ceconomy which was 
designed to distinguish the tribes of Israel from 
all other nations, is not only incredible, but 
attended with every difficulty, even it is con- 
ceived, to a moral impossibility. 6 If some of 
the Arabs (says an Author on the present state 
of Judah and Israel,) have practised circumci- 
sion ; this makes nothing against us. Circum- 
cision was long antecedent to the ceremonial 
code. And Ishmael, the father of the Arabians, 
being himself a son of Abraham, was circum- 
cised. How naturally would his descendants 



TEN TRIBES OF ISRAEL 



255 



follow him in this rite ; at least for some time. 
And the Heathen nations being in the practice 
of offering sacrifices, furnishes no argument 
against us. For sacrifices had been offered by 
the progenitors of all the nations from the be- 
ginning, and were not at all peculiar to the 
ceremonial code. All Heathen nations then, 
derived this their practice from their remote 
ancestors. — But when we now find the Ame- 
rican Indians in the conscientious practice of 
many of the ceremonial laws in Israel, and 
cautiously maintaining those traditions, merely 
because they descended from their remote an- 
cestors ; we certainly have strong evidence to 
prove that they are the descendants of ancient 
Israel : and, however many difficult questions 
may attach themselves to the subject, they are 
all less difficult than to account for the origin 
of these traditions on any other principle than 
that the Indians are descended from the an- 
cient people of God — were all originally of one 
language, and came over by Bhering's Straits, 
in which several Islands are situated, and 
through which there is an easy passage from 
the north-east of Asia, to the north-west of 
America.' 

In February 1826. I set off in a horse sleigh, 
the usual mode of travelling in winter, for 



256 



MILICETTE TRIBE. 



Fredericstown ; which is about eighty-five miles 
from the sea, and pleasantly situated on the 
banks of the river Saint John. Besides a resi- 
dence for the Lieut. Governor, Fredericstown 
contains a provincial hall, where the supreme 
courts, and general assemblies are held, — a 
county court house, which serves also for a 
market, and in addition to other public build- 
ings, it is in contemplation to erect a college 
on an enlarged scale. I saw but few Indians 
in the course of my journey over the snow, and 
these of the Milicette tribe, who speak a differ- 
ent dialect to that of the Micmacs. They are 
generally scattered at this season of the year, 
in small hunting parties, but meet in consider- 
able numbers in the spring and fall, at several 
points along the banks of the river St. John ; 
and at Tobigue, near the borders of Lower 
Canada. In an interview with the Lieutenant 
Governor, his excellency expressed a lively 
concern for their civilization and improvement, 
and mentioned, a successful application in their 
behalf, of a pecuniary grant from His Majesty, 
towards the meliorating their condition. For 
several years past, the provincial legislative 
assembly have voted the sum of fifty pounds 
annually, in aid of a missionary to the Indians, 
provided the said missionary was recommended 



POPULATION OF NEW BRUNSWICK. <257 



by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Quebec, 
and approved by the Lieutenant Governor of 
the Province ; but during the present Session 
of 1826, ' It was resolved, that there be granted 
to his Excellency, the Lieutenant Governor, a 
sum, not exceeding two hundred pounds, for the 
purpose of assisting aged and distressed Indians, 
in the different counties in the Province.' 

By a census that has been taken, it appears 
that the population of New Brunswick, may 
now be fairly stated at eighty thousand. — The 
climate is healthy, and the emigrant coming to 
the country, may by hard work, and persevering 
industry, comfortably maintain himself and 
family. To enter on the laborious enterprise, 
however, of clearing a lot of land in the wilder- 
ness, without some capital, is indeed attended 
with considerable difficulty. Should he land 
therefore from a foreign country, without any 
pecuniary means to accomplish this under- 
taking, the best course that he can adopt, is, 
to seek some advantageous employment, till 
he has accumulated savings to pay the govern- 
ment, and office fees, on his grant of land ; and 
discharge other expenses, that he must 
necessarily incur at first proceeding to the 
cultivation of the soil. — The settlers are 

s 



258 PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL 



liberally encouraged in the establishment of 
schools, throughout the Province, by a grant 
of twenty pounds per annum, from the Pro- 
vincial Treasury, to each parish where a school- 
house is provided, and the sum of twenty 
pounds is raised annually by the inhabitants. — 
Through this enlightened, and liberal system 
of policy, the settlers are enabled to engage 
efficient teachers, in the important duty of 
educating their children. A mighty mass 
of intellect is thus called into action, and as 
ever stirring and awake, it requires some better 
guide in matters of religion, than the common- 
place precepts, which may be taught by the 
schoolmaster. — The rising youth call loudly 
for increased ministerial watchful care, while 
the destitute state of numerous settlements, 
formed far back in the interior, present to the 
active devoted Missionaries of the Gospel, vast 
fields of usefulness, already ripe for the harvest. 
The labourers, however, of the Church of Eng- 
land, who are sent out, or supported by the 
Society for f the Propagation of the Gospel in 
Foreign Parts/ occupy but few stations, com- 
pared with the spiritual wants, of the many 
thousands, who are stated in the census, to live 
in the Province. And the national Kirk of 



PROPAGATION OE THE GOSPEL. 259 



Scotland, has only two ministers for the 
Colony in the present day. for a numerous 
people of her communion, who have emigrated 
to this quarter of the globe. One is stationed 
in the city of Saint John, and the other at Saint 
Andrew's, the frontier town, within view of the 
American territories. — A company of preachers 
are wanted to enter upon missionary labours, 
in the newly formed and rising settlements, 
for the propagation of the Gospel of Christ — 
I would that they might go forth, preaching 
the Gospel upon a broad and Catholic founda- 
tion, and not confine their labours to a few 
points, but embrace the Province at large. 
This might be effected without a heavy ex- 
penditure, by employing men devoted to the 
object, as schoolmasters, or exhorters, to pre- 
cede them in the more distant, and retired 
parts of the Colony, who would prepare the 
way, and collect a people for their preaching, 
Twenty preachers, with a number of active, 
zealous men, engaged in the above capacity, 
would, I am persuaded spread the knowledge of 
the truth, over the face of the country. In the 
exercise of their arduous ministry, the Mission- 
aries would meet with some persons of extrava- 
gant religious opinions ; but their preaching 
generally, would be to a mixed population, 

S 2 



260 PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL. 

many of whom, were attached from principle, 
birth, and education, to different denomina- 
tions of Christians, before they left their home, 
for a foreign land. Pursuing however a 
Christian course, in the conscientious discharge 
of their missionary labours, being patient unto 
all men, apt to teach, preaching more earnestly 
the grand distinguishing doctrine of the re- 
formation, that of Chrisfs pacification for which 
Knox laboured, and the reformers were burnt 
at the stake, than adopting with prejudice, the 
confined notion, and narrow sentiment of ex- 
cluding from salvation, but by " the uncove- 
nanted mercies of God," all who are not within 
the pale of their own church, the most bene- 
ficial effects would follow — " Instead of the 
thorn, would come up the fir tree, and instead 
of the brier, would come up the myrtle tree." 
A truly scriptural candour would be promoted 
among the people, no want of a congregation 
would be complained of, converts would flow 
in, through a divine blessing, and churches 
would be erected with a rapidity, which it 
would be too sanguine to calculate upon in any 
other way of exertion. I have been over some 
of the ground, and witnessed a preparation in 
the vallies, and over the mountains, for this 
truly benevolent and Christian missionary 



BAPTISM. 



261 



enterprise. There are acknowledged difficul- 
ties in the way of fertilizing with Christian 
privileges, and evangelizing a moral wilder- 
ness ; but they are not greater than the first 
settlers contended with, and overcame, in pre- 
paring the soil of the forest for the sowing, 
and the vegetation of the seed. It is not by 
preaching baptismal regeneration, as the only 
scriptural regeneration required, that the work 
of reformation and salvation is effected. — For 
it has been well said, c That daily experience 
proves that no outward means can remove the 
crimson stain of sin, or do away its filthiness. 
— Nothing but the blood of the Lamb can 
perform so great a work. — While some are 
contending that baptism has this power, thou- 
sands around us who have been baptized in the 
name of Christ, are giving a death blow to all 
their reasonings by their worldly and ungodly 
lives. This, as well as every other ordinance, 
is indeed sometimes made the means of com- 
municating blessings to the soul ; but there is 
no inseparable connexion between the outward 
visible sign, and the inward spiritual grace 
of any sacrament. A man may go to the table 
of the Lord, and yet not discern the Lord's 
body there — he may be washed in the water 
of baptism, and yet be as much in the gall of 



262 



ITINERANT PREACHING. 



bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity as Simon 
Magus, and Judas Iscariot.' Let labourers go 
into the vineyard, with apostolic determination, 
" to know nothing among men, save Jesus 
Christ, and him crucified," and preach the truth 
of his solemn declaration, that except a man be 
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God, 
and the general current of the Divine Promises 
is, that the most substantial good, and the 
most important happy effects shall follow in 
the lives of men, under the influence of this 
doctrine — " The wicked man will turn from his 
wickedness" and live in the obedience of God's 
commands, and a shouting will be heard from 
the tops of the mountains, while the vallies 
will echo with the exclamation, " How beau- 
tiful are the feet of them that preach the 
gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good 
things." It must be acknowledged that preach- 
ing is the most efficient method of spreading 
the knowledge of Divine Truth ; and it is to 
itinerant preaching, however many may under- 
value it, that we owe our freedom from the 
shackles of popery, in the success of the refor- 
mation. Christianity was first promulgated by 
it, and revivals of religion have taken place at 
different periods, through its powerful means, 
as in the days of Whitfield and Wesley, in their 



ITINERANT PREACHING. 



263 



travels through England and America. The 
arguments which are justly urged for sending 
missions to the Heathen, acquire a double force 
when applied to British Colonists, situated in 
a land of moral darkness, where they gradually 
become, in the absence of Christian privileges, 
and Divine ordinances, more and more in- 
different to the truths of that Bible, which they 
may have borne with them, in their emigration, 
from their own country. In no part of the 
world therefore, do they need the faithful 
preaching of the gospel, more than in the 
extensive and newly formed settlements of 
the British provinces, where thousands are 
perishing for the want of ministerial labours 
of Christian missionaries. 



CHAPTER III. 



NEW SETTLEMENTS. — SABBATH. — -LEAVE NEW BRUNSWICK, 

NEGRO PROCESSION ALBANY THE GREAT 

WESTERN CANAL. LAKE ERIE. NIAGARA FALLS. 

BROCK'S MONUMENT. MOHAWK INDIANS. — CAPTAIN 

BRANDT. MOHAWK CHURCH. WESLEYAN MISSION- 
ARIES. MISSISSAUGA TRIBE. RIVER CREDIT. INDIAN 

SACRIFICE AND CEREMONIES. 

In visiting some of the remote and new settle- 
ments, as a minister, the people generally 
crowded upon me to hear the word of God. 
There being no churches, and in some places 
no school-house, as yet erected, where to hold 
divine worship, I could not scruple to officiate 
in a barn, and proclaim to them the glad tidings 
of redemption, purchased through the agonized 
death of Him, who in the mystery of his humi- 
liation was born in a stable. That gross fana- 
ticism should be met with among persons who 
are destitute of Christian sanctuaries, and who 
profess principles which they seek not in any 
way to act upon, cannot be a matter of sur- 
prise. There are those at home, enjoying the 



SABBATH. 



265 



full tide of gospel privileges, who call " Christ, 
Lord, Lord, while they do not the things that 
he says." I found, however, in this solitude, 
Christians fearing the Lord, who implore a 
gospel ministry, " that the things which re- 
main," and appear almost ready to die " may 
be strengthened." These bear the reproach of 
the world, and are called by the false appella- 
tion of e New Lights ; ' but the general tenour 
of their lives is the best testimony that they 
are walking in that light which Abraham saw 
and was glad ; the rays of which cheered the 
way of the prophets and apostles, guided the 
feet of martyrs through the flames, and which 
now brighten the prospect of all true believers, 
in their journey of life towards the kingdom of 
heaven. 

I was greatly delighted during the toils of 
the wilderness, in meeting with an aged Chris- 
tian pilgrim, who would have me remain for a 
day at his hospitable though humble habitation. 
The next day, being the Sabbath, he accom- 
panied me over the Blue Mountains, where a 
number of settlers were located back in the 
woods, and who had never before been assem- 
bled in their infant settlement for divine 
worship. We met in a barn, which to the 
eye was in a solitary situation, but so great was 



266 SABBATH. 

the desire of the people to hear the preaching 
of divine truth, that a considerable number 
were collected from the neighbourhood, and 
some walked the distance of ten miles. A 
Sabbath spent like this was a source of true 
enjoyment, and afforded encouragement in my 
ministry ; from the hope that a divine blessing 
rested upon the assembling of ourselves to- 
gether in the solitary places of the earth. The 
delight of the good old man with whom I 
sojourned, was to seek good and to do good ; 
and in the quiet walk of every day usefulness, 
he was blessed of God and a blessing to others 
around him. There are some professed Chris- 
tians, who cease to do good that they may 
cease to be opposed, and rest in a middle state 
of neutrality ; but he went about in the retired 
circuit of his own immediate neighbourhood, 
visiting the sick, praying with the afflicted, and 
often (when solicited) attending the burial of 
the dead. Nor did he forget the apostolic in- 
junction to Christians, " to forsake not the 
assembling of themselves together," but each 
returning Sabbath witnessed a small assembly 
of his friends and neighbours under his roof, 
with whom he would join in prayer and praise, 
and whom he would sometimes exhort. He 
had seen days of heavy affliction, particularly 



SABBATH. 



267 



ill the loss of his youngest son, who was acci- 
dentally killed in his presence, about two years 
ago, by the upsetting of a cart, which crushed 
him with almost instantaneous death. He told 
me the particulars of this sore trial with strong 
emotions, yet with calm submission to the will 
of God ; and taking me to the grave, in a re- 
tired part of the woods, he remarked that he 
often visited it, to solemnize his mind, and 
meditate upon those important events which 
are to take place hereafter. In conversing 
cheerfully with me on those subjects, he added, 
I am satisfied with the goodness, the promise, 
and the faithfulness of Jehovah ; and have 
directed, when I die, that my bones may be 
laid by the side of those of my son, in the hope 
of a joyful resurrection ! The life of this aged 
pilgrim is a living portrait of vital Christianity, 
and suggested to my mind the lines of the poet 
that so beautifully describe the inhabitants of 
some of the hamlets in Scotland. 

" Oh — much I love thy tranquil dales; 

But most on Sabbath eve, when low the sun 

Slants through the upland copse, 'tis my delight, 

Wandering, and stopping oft, to hear the song 

Of kindred praise arise from humble roofs ; 

Or when the simple service ends, to hear 

The lifted latch, and mark the grey-haird man, 



268 LEAVE NEW BRUNSWICK. 

The father and the priest, walk forth alone 
Into his garden plat, or little field, 
To commune with his God in secret prayer ; 
To bless the Lord that in his downward years 
Rich mercies still surround him ; sweet meantime, 
The thrush that sings upon the aged thorn, 
Brings to his view the days of youthful years, 
When that same aged thorn was but a bush. 
Nor is the contrast between youth and age 
To him a painful thought ; he joys to think 
His journey near a close : Heaven is his home." 

June the 20th, I left the province of New 
Brunswick, on my mission to the Mohawk 
Indians, settled along the Grand River, Upper 
Canada, and landed from the steam boat, that 
ran between the city of Saint John and East- 
port, the frontier town of the United States, on 
the same evening. The next morning, I took 
the packet boat for Boston, and soon after 
my arrival, proceeded on my way, through the 
state of Massachusetts, by the stage, to Albany. 

Negro Slavery has been for a considerable 
time abolished in Massachusetts, and the people 
of colour commemorate its abolition by an an- 
nual procession which I had the pleasure of 
witnessing. Their appearance was rather gro- 
tesque, and excited much good humour among 
the gazing multitude. The old men who headed 
the procession carried short batoons, some of 



NEGRO PROCESSION. 



269 



whom wore cocked hats, cockades, epaulets, 
silk sashes, and top boots : — then followed a 
party of younger men bearing pikes with tin 
heads, and a few flags ; several bands of music 
were placed at intervals in the long array, and 
the whole was closed by a number of black 
boys, two and two, in their gayest apparel. On 
each side of the procession were seen a great 
number of female negroes, and in this order 
they went to the church, as is customary with 
the Benefit Societies in England at their annual 
meetings, to hear divine service. The men 
afterwards dined together, elected office-bearers 
for the year ensuing, and according to custom 
on such occasions, it was stated that they 
" spent the evening in the utmost conviviality 
and good humour." 

It was truly gratifying to witness the happy 
appearance of these free blacks, and to think 
of the event commemorated by their holiday 
procession. The State laws prohibited their 
being any longer bought and sold like the 
inferior animals, or a mass of inanimate matter. 
As in England they breathed the air of liberty : 
and the privilege was theirs of hearing the glad 
tidings of Redemption from an African preacher, 
which under a divine blessing can liberate 



270 



ALBANY. 



them from that bondage from which no legis- 
lative act could free them. 

Albany was an early Dutch settlement, on 
the banks of the Hudson River ; and the town 
is situated at the distance of about one hundred 
and sixty miles from New York. Though of 
little note, in comparison with the size and 
population of that city, the Legislative Assembly 
of the state of New York meet at Albany. 
The Capitol, or State House, stands on an 
eminence, at the end of a wide and handsome 
street, and has its dome surmounted by a figure 
of Justice. A number of old Dutch buildings 
still remain, with the gable end to the street ; 
which form a singular appearance with the 
more modern and tasteful style of houses which 
have been erected. The anniversary of the 
fourth of July, the celebration of the national 
independence of America, took place during 
my stay in the town. An oration was pro- 
nounced in the morning, as is the annual 
custom in the United States on the subject of 
their freedom and the causes which led to it. 
In every other respect, the anniversary very 
much resembled the public demonstration of 
joy in England on the King's birthday. The 
national banner was displayed on the public 



THE GREAT WESTERN CANAL. 



271 



buildings, and from the masts and rigging 
of the vessels in the harbour. The military 
paraded the streets, and assembled before 
the Senate House to fire a feu de joie, and 
the evening closed with a grand display of 
fire-works. The great western canal, which 
was begun in 1817, is now completed, and 
connects Lake Erie with the waters of the 
Hudson, near Albany. This astonishing un- 
dertaking is generally mentioned to have been 
suggested and principally promoted by the Hon. 
De Witt Clinton, then governor of the state, 
Its whole length is three hundred and sixty- 
two miles, and cost seven millions of dollars. 
Boats run on the canal, of about fiftv tons 
burden, and draw about four feet water. They 
are drawn by two or three horses and afford 
tolerably comfortable accommodations for pas- 
sengers. I took my passage in one of them 
for Buffalo ; and the only inconvenience I 
found, was, in reconciling myself to the gre- 
garious arrangement of sleeping at night. We 
passed 6 Tribes Hill,' distinguished formerly as 
the place where the Mohawk Indians gene- 
rally assembled to hold their council fire. Near 
to which is the residence of the late Sir William 
Johnson, who is said to have acquired a greater 
influence over the Indians than any other white 



272 



LAKE ERIE. 



man ever possessed. The next day we reached 
Utica, and coming to Lockport, we saw a 
masterpiece of human industry, in the canal 
having been cut through a solid rock of fifteen 
feet deep, and three miles long. The water 
is here raised sixty-five feet, by means of a 
chain of locks, which may be considered a 
work of the first magnitude, and one of the 
greatest of the kind in the world. The canal 
terminates at Buffalo, and has given to the 
town a commercial importance, bustle, and 
activity, from its becoming the great thorough- 
fare between the lower country and Lake Erie, 
the state of Ohio, and the rest of the western 
territory. Of the ultimate effects of this canal, 
and the spirit for such undertakings which it 
has diffused throughout the whole country, it 
is impossible to form an adequate conception. 
" The imagination is startled," says a writer, in 
the North American Review, (the first literary 
periodical publication of the United States,) by 
its own reveries, as it surveys the coasts of 
Erie, Huron, and Michigan, and traverses the 
rich prairies of Indiana, or the gloomy forests 
of Ohio. But we firmly believe that every 
bright anticipation will be converted into facts, 
and that our country will hereafter exhibit an 
inland trade, unrivalled for its activity, its 



FALLS OF NIAGARA. 



273 



value, and its extent." In crossing the river 
from Buffalo, the stage took us to Forsyth's 
Hotel, Niagara Falls. These tremendous cata- 
racts, at first sight, disappointed my expecta- 
tions. As we are happier in idea than in reality, 
so are our expectations raised by representa- 
tion beyond what can be realised to our view. 
I gazed upon them, however, with astonish- 
ment, both from the American side, and also 
from the banks of the British territory. But it 
was not till I descended the spiral staircase to 
the bottom of the precipice, that I felt the 
overpowering impression of the sublime scenery. 
From the point on the bed of the River, is seen 
a blending of beauty, grandeur, and sublimity, 
which no language can describe. Such is the 
impression, that the mind labours, but in vain 
tries, to give vent to its emotions : leading the 
astonished spectator to exclaim, perhaps, in the 
language of the Psalmist, when contemplating 
the wonders of creation, " Great and marvellous 
are thy works, Lord God Almighty ! " 

Near the Falls are the battle grounds of 
Chippewa and Lundy's Lane ; and in passing 
the latter, on my way to Queenston, I observed 
that some of the houses and trees still bore the 
marks of the murderous fire of cannon and 

T 



274 BROCK'S MONUMENT. 



musketry, from one of the most hard fought 
and bloody conflicts, that took place with nearly 
equal numbers, during the late American war. 
Near Queenston General Brock fell. — He was 
Governor of the province of Upper Canada, 
and was universally esteemed by the inha- 
bitants, who, with the British army, deeply 
lamented his death. A monument has been 
erected to his memory on the heights, near to 
the spot where he received his mortal wound. 
It is one hundred and fifteen feet in height, 
and commands a most extensive view of the 
surrounding country. Immediately opposite 
Queenston, is Lewiston, a village within the 
American boundary line ; near to which is a 
settlement of Tuscarora Indians : some of whom 
appear as industrious farmers ; and are not 
only very attentive in cultivating Indian corn, 
but also wheat, and other produce. A vast 
improvement has taken place in the general 
character of these Indians, which may be prin- 
cipally attributed to the ministerial labours 
and friendly advice of a resident devoted mis- 
sionary among them. A few years ago they 
were in a state of great degradation, living in 
idleness and drunkenness ; but since the intro- 
duction of Christianity among them, their dwel- 



CAPTAIN BRANDT. 



275 



lings exhibit a degree of social comfort ; and 
as some of them are become decided Christians, 
encouragement is afforded to anticipate suc- 
cess in seeking to benefit and civilize others of 
the North American Indians. 

At Queenstown I hired a light travelling 
waggon for Burlington Bay, Lake Ontario, 
where the Mohawk chief, Mr. Brandt, resided. 
He received me with much kind hospitality, 
and the next morning accompanied me to the 
River Ouse, or Grand River, where several 
tribes of Indians are stationary, to the number 
of about two thousand. This well-educated 
and intelligent chief informed me, that his de- 
ceased father, Captain Brandt, the celebrated 
chief of the Mohawk Indians, made choice of 
the tract of land, at the close of the Revolu- 
tionary war, which was specified in the general 
proclamation of 1784, by the Lieutenant- 
Governor of the province of Upper Canada. 
They were to occupy the country six miles in 
width, on each side, following the whole course 
of the Ouse, or Grand River, from its source. 
Since the above period the quantity of land has 
been curtailed ; and when the subject was dis- 
cussed by them in council, one of the chiefs 
said, c Perhaps they wish that we should all die, 

T 2 



276 



INDIANS. 



— we now live like frogs, along the banks of the 
river, and it may be they wish to take all the 
land, then we shall be driven to jump in and 
perish.' It was stated that Captain Brandt, at 
one time, commanded more than fifteen hun- 
dred Indian warriors, and if on retiring from 
the American territories, the accustomed savage 
cruelties of the tomahawk and the scalping 
knife were committed, it is much to be doubted 
if such cruelties were either directed or sanc- 
tioned by this distinguished war chief. He 
was a man of a shrewd intelligent mind, and 
translated the Gospel of St. John, with the 
Book of Common Prayer, into the Mohawk 
language. In passing through the United 
States, I met with an American gentleman, who 
assured me that he was indebted to Captain 
Brandt for the preservation of his life, when 
surprised and taken prisoner with a small com- 
pany during the Revolutionary war, by a de- 
tached party of Indians. The tomahawk had 
fallen upon the heads of some of his com- 
panions, but being fortunate enough to get 
into the presence of Brandt, he humanely, 
though with some difficulty, prevented his 
being tomahawked and scalped. 

The following Indians are settled along the 



MOHAWK CHURCH. 



277 



margin of the Grand, and as called by them, 
the Mohawk River, to the extent of thirty or 
forty miles, and consist of 

The Mohawks, - - - Professed Christians, 

The Oneidas, - - - The same, 

The Cayugas, - - - Heathens, 

The Onondagas, - - The same, 

The Senecas, - - - Likewise Heathens, 
and the Delawares, who form the sixth nation, 
and are called Nephews by the Five Nations. 

Soon after the location of these confederated 
tribes, a very neat church was built by the 
British Government, at a village formed by the 
Mohawks, and adjoining to which the Oneidas 
were settled. There were erected also at the 
same time a school house and a house for their 
general assembly in council. These latter have 
gone to decay, but the church remains, though 
in a very dilapidated state. There was every 
inviting circumstance to place a resident mis- 
sionary for the propagation of the gospel 
throughout these suffering tribes, who had left 
their lands on the Mohawk River, in the State 
of New York, to retreat within the British 
dominions. But for forty years, since their 
first settlement on the Grand River, they have 
not been successful in obtaining a resident 
missionary. c The Church of Rome/ said the 



278 



MOHAWK CHURCH. 



Hon. and Rev. Dr. Stewart, who visited these 
Mohawk Indians in 1822, £ have several mis- 
sionaries resident among the Indians in Lower 
Canada, where they are located, and profess the 
faith of that Church, while we have not one 
minister stationed among those who are Pro- 
testants in Upper Canada.' The morning after 
I arrived at the Mohawk village was that of the 
Sabbath, and I found upon inquiry, that part 
of the Liturgy of the Church of England was 
read by a native Mohawk, named Aaron Hill ; he 
possesses considerable abilities, and in addition 
to the gospels already translated, he is engaged 
with an Indian Princess, sister to Mr. Brandt, 
the Mohawk chief, in rendering the Acts of the 
Apostles into the Mohawk language. Though 
there is not altogether a desirable consistency 
and regularity in the reading of the service, yet 
such is their attachment to it, that numbers of 
the Mohawk and Oneida Indians regularly 
attend at every opening of the church. It 
becomes an honest question, Why have they 
been neglected in the want of a resident 
missionary's care, for so long a series of years ? 
A missionary of devoted zeal and exemplary 
conduct would, I am persuaded, command their 
respect and admiration. He would live among 
them under the most encouraging prospect 



MOHAWK SCHOOL. 



279 



of usefulness, as their pastor and their friend. 
The knowledge of Christianity would be ex- 
tended, through the superintendence of schools, 
which might be established among the tribes 
who are yet in the dark state of heathenism, on 
the banks of the Grand River. There cannot 
be conceived a more extensive and promising 
field of successful missionary labour. I preached 
in the Mohawk church to about two hundred 
Indians, and never witnessed a more solemn 
and attentive audience. They sang one of the 
Psalms in the Mohawk language with a most 
pleasing melody and impressive effect. At the 
conclusion of the service, I baptized twelve of 
their children, and married a couple. On the 
following morning, we visited from the Mo- 
hawk village, the school at Davis's Hamlet, a 
distance of about five miles, where I saw George 
Johnson, a native teacher, who was the ap- 
pointed schoolmaster of the New England 
Company. He was well qualified as a teacher, 
and taught in the school or mission house, that 
was built by the Methodist Episcopal Church 
Missionary Society, with their appointed school- 
master, S. Crawford. This school was esta- 
blished nearly five years ago, and originated 
with Thomas Davis, a Mohawk chief, who gave 
me an interesting account of his conversion, 



280 WESLEYAN MISSIONARIES. 

under the ministry of the Wesleyan mission- 
aries, who visited, as itinerant preachers, the 
Mohawk Indians. 6 1 have lived,' said he, 'near 
seventy years, and to me it is a great mystery, 
that I, who was baptized when I was a child, 
should live all my days without knowing the 
comfort of religion in my heart. This I found 
about five years ago. I used to pray, but it was 
only here, putting his hand upon his lips, and 
then raising it to his head, added, all I knew of 
religion was only there. By and by, Wesleyan 
preachers come ; very good men. They tell 
me of Jesus Christ, then me feel here, laying 
his hand upon his heart. Now, my spirit very 
happy. Jesus Christ died to take away sin, me 
love Jesus Christ, me go into the bush and 
pray to Jesus Christ ; me love to talk of Him, 
and think of Him ; and, by and by, me die, and 
go to Jesus Christ.' This aged chief, on his 
conversion, became much concerned for the 
instruction of others around him, and before 
the school-house was completed, actually gave 
up his own house for a school, and a place for 
the Wesleyan preachers to hold divine service 
in, and retired to a cabin in the woods. He 
would pray with the Indians himself, some- 
times read to them portions of the Liturgy, 
which they have in the Mohawk language, and 



INDIAN SCHOOL. 



281 



exhort them to leave off their habits of drunk- 
enness, and lead sober lives. It pleased God 
to bless these efforts to a farther inquiry after 
education and the Christian religion, among 
the natives. A lad of about seventeen, having 
heard of the opening of the school, and being 
very desirous of education, came from the dis- 
tance of a hundred miles, to visit the place where 
Indians were taught to read. Being hospitably 
received by the Mohawk chief and others, he 
entered the school, and has made considerable 
progress in learning, and divine knowledge, so 
as to afford encouraging hopes that he will be- 
come a useful native teacher in a school, or a 
preacher of righteousness among his brethren. 
To obtain these important agents should be a 
leading object in every missionary undertaking. 
— It was stated, that twenty, sometimes twenty- 
five, Indian children regularly attended, and 
that the Sunday school consisted, during the 
summer on some occasions, of about sixty 
youths and children. This Sabbath and day- 
school, with the preaching and exhortations 
of the Missionaries, have not only been pro- 
ductive of much good among the Indians in 
the mere immediate neighbourhood of Davis's 
Hamlet, but the means of effecting a most 
remarkable change, both in a moral and 



282 



MISSISSAUGAH TRIBE. 



religious point of view, among the Mississaugah 
tribe, the aborigines of the north side of Lake 
Ontario. These Indians, at the invitation of 
the Mohawks, came and pitched their tents, 
about two years ago, near the school-house at 
Davis's Hamlet, to the number of about one 
hundred adults, with a view that their children 
might receive the advantages of education. 
The principal chief of the tribe set an encour- 
aging example, by influencing his young wife 
to attend the school ; others followed, and from 
the instruction that was given, and through the 
plain and simple preaching of u repentance 
toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus 
Christ," the majority of the tribe were led to 
embrace the Christian religion, and in the 
conduct of their lives, afford a convincing 
proof that they are not merely converted in 
name and outward profession, but to the true 
love of God, and cc Jesus Christ whom he has 
sent ; " which is strikingly illustrated by their 
exchange of dissolute for temperate habits. 

An avaricious trader finds it to his interest 
to barter with the natives in rum, and they are 
frequently solicited to drink for the purpose of 
an unjust and nefarious trade. Some time 
since an effort of this sort was made, with 
some of the Mississaugah Tribe, who, on their 



ONEIDA SCHOOL. 



•283 



profession of religion, had renounced intoxica- 
tion. — Going to one of the stores, they were 
asked to drink ; having taken one glass, they 
were pressed to take another, with the observa- 
tion, ' Surely, a little more will do you no 
harm.' Perceiving the design, they said to the 
storekeeper, ' Have you a Bible ? ' ' Yes, we 
have Bibles,' was the reply, and handed one of 
them down. One of the party opened it, and 
with native sagacity and thought, exclaimed 
6 Oh ! much gospel, very good. — Much whiskey, 
no good ! • On this hint, that they had embraced 
the gospel, and this was better than rum, no 
further attempt was offered, at that time, to 
make the Indians drunk. — Since their con- 
version, they have returned to their own lands, 
• and have commenced a civilized way of living 
at the river Credit, near York, Upper Canada, 
where the provincial government is building 
log-houses for them, in their settlement, and 
formation of a village. 

We next proceded to the Oneida school, and 
called on the chief of that nation, Tewaserake, 
who received us most hospitably in a neat 
farm house, situated near some well cultivated 
fields, which, with some cattle that belonged to 
him, presented the appearance of industry, 
comfort, and prosperity. Accompanying us to 



284 SPEECH OF THE INDIAN CHIEF. 

the school house, which has been recently built 
at the expense of the New England corpora- 
tion, under the superintendance of Mr. Brandt, 
he expressed a warm interest in educating the 
children of his tribe, and when surrounded by 
about thirty more, who had assembled to meet 
me, and who had engaged to send their chil- 
dren to the school, he spoke on the subject in 
a most impressive and emphatic manner :— 
6 Brother,' said he, c we are all glad to see you 
here this day, and we are thankful to the Great 
Spirit, for preserving your life throughout your 
long journey, and for putting the desire in your 
heart to visit us in the wilderness. We are 
poor, and we want instruction — we wish to see 
our children grow up in the right way, and we 
are thankful to the company, in your country, 
for sending money to our great chief, Mr. 
Brandt, for building the school-house, and 
paying the schoolmaster, to give knowledge 
to our children. Brother ! the light is breaking 
in upon us, after a long darkness. We hope 
the Great Spirit will send a good man to live 
among us, as our teacher, and guide in the 
light of what is true. Brother, we want a good 
minister at the Mohawk church, to preach the 
gospel of Jesus Christ. We should be glad if 
you would stay with us— may be, you cannot 



ONEIDA TRIBE. 



285 



stop — then brother, speak of us in your own 
country. Our children have run wild, like the 
beasts of the forest, many of them are not so 
now — they learn better at the schools. We 
who are growing old cannot expect much 
benefit from the school ourselves ; we are too 
old to learn ; we perhaps soon die. But the 
children will rise up improved, and benefit their 
nation. Brother! in leaving us, may the Great 
Spirit still favour you with his protection, and 
carry you safely across the great waters, to 
your family, as we hear that you have a wife 
and children in your own country. — All the 
Indians present, join me in this prayer.' 

Scattered remnants of this once powerful 
tribe are met with in the American States, and 
till lately a party of them were settled near the 
Oneida Lake : but, no missionary being resi- 
dent among them, and without any friendly 
aid in agricultural pursuits, they were induced 
to sell their lands in their poverty to the Ame- 
ricans, and have gone back into the interior, 
west of Lake Michigan. When united, in 
former days, they traversed with the con- 
federated nations an almost boundless extent 
of country as the proprietors of the soil, from 
which they have been gradually driven through 
the rapacious conduct of the Whites, or influ- 



286 ONEIDA TRIBE. 

enced by a corrupt and unjust medium of 
barter to give up in their distress, till they are 
known no longer but as a wreck, or are found 
scattered in fragments on the borders of the 
vast territories of their fathers. Missionary 
labours will be found most effectual, under the 
blessing of Heaven, in arresting the progress 
of that desolation which is blotting the Indians, 
and rapidly so, from the map of nations. There 
is an urgent call as well as the Divine command, 
to enter upon well-principled and active exer- 
tions in their behalf. Experience tells us, that 
as success has followed missionary efforts, it 
may yet accompany them, when made and en- 
tered upon in simple reliance on the promises 
of God. A brilliant conquest for humanity, as 
well as religion, has been achieved in the South 
Sea Islands, and in Africa. An encouraging 
prospect of success presents itself in the East ; 
and if only ten were found among the North- 
American Indians, who were known to have 
been rescued from dissipation, ignorance, and 
wretchedness through the knowledge of the 
Gospel of Christ, we should be entitled to 
believe that ten thousand may yet follow them 
from among the scattered tribes of the North. 
A pleasing anecdote is told of an Oneida chief, 
named Skenandou, who had been led to em- 



MOHAWK SCHOOL. 



287 



brace the Christian religion, and experience its 
power in his heart, in patriarchal simplicity, as 
a proof of an Indian's attachment to the me- 
mory of a missionary, who had been the means 
of his conversion to God. — He lived a reformed 
man for fifty years, and at a very advanced age, 
said, just before he died, — " I am an aged 
hemlock-tree : the winds of one hundred years 
have whistled through my branches : I am dead 
at the top." (He was blind.) " Why I yet 
live, the great good Spirit only knows. Pray 
to my Jesus, that I may wait with patience my 
appointed time to die : and when I die, lay me 
by the side of my minister and father, that I 
may go up with him at the great resurrection." 

Our next visit was to the Mohawk school, 
for the erection of which, the New England 
Company had placed money also in the hands 
of Mr. Brandt. The wood and materials were 
collected on the spot, but the building was not 
completed. I urged the immediate completion 
of it, as the place where the children of this 
district met for instruction was attended with 
much inconvenience. There were about twenty 
present, who were taught by a Mohawk named 
Laurence Davis, some of them were just be- 
ginning to read, and of the thirty-four, who 



288 



INDIAN SCHOOLS. 



were said to belong to the school, twelve could 
read in the English Testament. Within a few 
miles of this school in the Mohawk village, 
is a school supported by the Society for the 
Propagation of the Gospel, which Mr. Brandt in- 
formed me consisted of about twenty children, 
with their schoolmaster William Hess. These 
schools present every encouraging prospect 
of further, and most extensive usefulness, but 
will fail in those expectations which have been 
raised at their establishment, if they are left 
without the active superintendence, and watch- 
ful care of a devoted, resident missionary. 

Every friend of Christian missions must re- 
joice in the opening of a way for preaching the 
Gospel, not only among the Mohawks, and 
Oneida Indians, but also among the Onondaga, 
and Seneca Tribes, on the Grand River. 
These last, have lived hitherto in the darkness 
of heathenism ; but having observed the chil- 
dren of the former improved by education, 
they have lately solicited the establishment of 
schools among them, that their children may 
have the same advantages. These Indians, 
with the Cayugas', who are the most numerous 
of the six nations, on the above station, keep 
many feasts, and particularly one at the time 



INDIAN SACRIFICE AND CEREMONIES. 289 



of planting their corn. A dog is killed, at 
this season of the year as a sacrifice to the 
Great Spirit, and being all assembled on 
the occasion, one of the chiefs delivers a 
solemn address. He usually begins, by ob- 
serving that they were all placed on the earth 
by the Great Spirit, and that their forefathers 
celebrated the like ceremonies, and after enu- 
merating, perhaps, some of their war exploits, 
he implores the assistance of the Great Spirit, 
asking Him to command the sun to shed his 
rays on the corn that is planted, that it may 
take root, and grow up, so that they may gather 
in the fruits of the earth. During the time of 
this address, the fire is consuming the sacrifice, 
and as the flame ascends, he occasionally pours 
incense on it, which arises as a perfume, from 
a preparation that they make of aromatic herbs, 
dried, and pulverized. The chiefs of these 
heathen nations lately met in council, to de- 
liberate on the subject of education, and par- 
ticularly requested Mr. Brandt to use his 
influence with those who had encouraged and 
defrayed the expenses of educating the Mo- 
hawk children, to make known the wish of the 
different tribes, located with the Mohawks, and 
the Oneidas, to have their children educated 

u 



290 INDIAN SACRIFICE AND CEREMONIES. 

in like manner. — That a great and effectual 
door is opened for the improvement, and 
preaching of the Gospel among the six nations, 
can admit of no rational doubt. — The field is 
extensive. — May the great Lord of the Harvest 
send forth labourers into this vineyard. 



CHAPTER IV. 



MISSISSAUGAH INDIANS, THEIR LOCATION. SABBATH 

SPENT AMONG THEM. PLEASING EFFECTS OF THEIR 

CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY. INDIAN PREACHERS 

ADDRESS. THEIR BOLD FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE. 

LOGAN. YORK, UPPER CANADA.- — AUBURN PRISON. 

UTICA. TRENTON FALLS. HUDSON RIVER.— 

BOARDING HOUSES, EMBARKED AT NEW YORK FOR 

ENGLAND, DEATH OF ONE OF THE PASSENGERS. 

ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND. REMARKS ON MISSIONS. 

Leaving the Grand River, I proceeded in com- 
pany with Mr. Brandt, to visit the Mississaugah 
Indians, who, in their conversion to Christia- 
nity, during the time of their encampment at 
Davis's Hamlet, became desirous of forming a 
Settlement, on some fertile flats by the River 
Credit. We arrived here on July the 21st, and 
found them living in bark huts, and tents, to 
the number, it was stated, of two hundred and 
five souls, waiting to occupy the twenty log 
houses, which were then building by contract 
of the Provincial Government, and nearly 
finished. A more seasonable and humane assis- 

U 2 



292 MISSISSAUGAH INDIANS. 



tance, or more effectual encouragement could 
not have been afforded to a wandering distressed 
tribe of Indians, desirous of becoming civilized, 
in the enjoyment of Christian privileges, and 
social advantages. Their location is a very 
convenient and encouraging one, and it was 
truly gratifying to find a considerable quantity 
of land planted, near their encampment, with 
Indian corn, which had a very promising ap- 
pearance of a bountiful crop. This they sup_ 
posed would enable them, with a little further 
supply of provisions, to be stationary with their 
families in the log houses, during the ensuing 
winter. A half-caste Wesleyan teacher, who 
had married an Indian woman, accompanied 
them from the Grand River, whom we found 
zealously instructing about thirty children 
under the cover of a few loose boards that 
had been collected. He appeared every way 
qualified as a schoolmaster, and under the 
lively influence of Christian principles, was 
devoted to his work. Many of his scholars had 
made considerable progress in reading, and 
they sang delightfully some of Doctor Watts* 
hymns for children. On the Sabbath he in- 
formed me more than sixty, including adults, 
generally attended the school. There was a 
solemn impression of the importance and self- 



SABBATH SPENT AMONG THEM. 293 



denying duties of Christianity upon the minds 
of most of the tribe ; and such was the primitive 
simplicity with which they had been led to 
receive the truths of the Gospel, that, at the 
blowing of a shell, by the half-caste teacher, 
they came up to the place where the school 
was held, at the dawn of every morning, for 
prayer. They were seen leaving their wigwams 
in groups, to assemble as one family, for devo- 
tion, and to implore a blessing from on High, 
before they entered upon the laborious occupa- 
tion of the day in cultivating the soil, or went 
to the woods to hunt for provisions for their 
families. It was a truly interesting sight, for 
devotion appeared to be their happiness. In 
view of such a scene the heart kindled with 
gratitude to the Father of mercies, and I was 
ready to exclaim with pleasing admiration, — 5 
" What has God wrought ! " 

I spent a Sabbath with these Indians, and 
addressed them both in the morning and after- 
noon, the half-caste teacher interpreting after- 
wards those parts of what was said, that they 
did not clearly understand. At the blowing of 
the shell they were all punctual in their attend- 
ance, and I beheld a sight, at which angels in 
heaven rejoice, a congregation of nearly a hun- 
dred converted natives, first kneeling to implore 



294 PLEASING EFFECTS OF THEIR 



the blessing of Jehovah ! then rising to their 
seats, waiting to hear the word of life. There 
appeared no wandering eye, nor a trifling look, 
all was solemnity, excepting at intervals, when, 
as they had been encouraged by the Wesleyan 
preachers, or had witnessed their example, first 
one, and then another offered up a short prayer 
with convulsions, groans, and tears, or expressed 
their religious feelings of joy, with exclamation, 
and a slight clapping of the hands. There 
appeared to me no studied art, or vanity in 
these extravagant proceedings, and expressions 
of what they felt ; still, I could not but regret 
that they were at all influenced to conduct 
themselves in this manner. The W esleyans 
speak of such extravagancies, as the effusions of 
overflowing souls ; but it is impossible to con- 
sider them, with their camp meetings, that are 
held in different parts of the country, at stated 
periods of the year, otherwise than with decided 
disapprobation. The Indians appeared to have 
embraced the Gospel in its simplicity and 
purity, uniting faith, experience, and practice, 
and at the close of the afternoon service, I 
baptized twelve children, and adults, and mar- 
ried five couples, most of whom had families, 
but had not found an opportunity before of 
going through the marriage service, since they 



CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY. 



29/3 



had been led to embrace the Christian religion. 
There was such an exhibition of facts, in the 
conversion of the greater part of this tribe, that 
filled my mind with pleasing astonishment. A 
few years ago they were considered, from their 
love of ardent spirits, the most wretched of the 
Aborigines. But since their conversion, the 
drunkard's whoop, and savage yell, have given 
place to the voice of supplication, and songs 
of grateful praise. Aware of their weak- 
ness, it was mentioned, that they had denied 
themselves altogether the use of spirits, and 
when urged to " take a little," they have been 
known to reply, " No ! me drink no more. 
Once me drink too much, and me fear, if me 
drink a little, me drink too much again." At 
one of the Conferences of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church Missionary Society, Thomas 
Davis, the converted Mohawk Chief, and John 
Crane, of the Mississaugah Tribe were present ; 
and being asked to state what they knew of the 
power of the Christian religion, and its conso- 
lations, the Mohawk Chief said, " Brothers, I 
will tell you some events in my life, and what 
the Lord Jesus hath done for me. Once I was 
fond of drink, but many years ago I gave up 
ardent spirits. I began to pray and was much 



296 INDIAN PREACHER'S ADDRESS. 

troubled^ when your ministers came to us. 
They preached Jesus Christ, and their words 
were with power ; we believed them, that Jesus 
had power to forgive sins. I could then love 
my God and all people, and my heart was glad. 
Brothers ! we all came from one Father, I hope 
we are all one family in Christ Jesus. We shall 
soon meet in our Father's kingdom. We shall 
there see Jesus whom we now love, and all the 
wise and good who have gone before us. I ask 
the prayers of Christians for me, and for all the 
Indians, that they may be saved." 

The Mississaugah Chief then rose, with whom 
I had much interesting conversation also at 
the River Credit, as a decided Christian. — 
" Brothers ! " said he, " I rise up to tell you 
what God hath done for me, I have been a great 
sinner against God even since I can remember. 
I have lived in the ways of my forefathers, and 
was taught to offer sacrifices to the evil spirit 
to appease his anger. But these things made 
me no better, for I was a drunkard and a quar- 
relsome man, like some white men. Since I 
heard the good word I see better. I now ac- 
knowledge there is but one God, one Saviour, 
Jesus Christ, that can do poor sinners good. 
I have believed in Him with all my heart, and 



WESLEYAN MISSIONARIES. 



297 



cast all my sins away. It is but a short time 
since that I found this good religion, which 
makes my soul so joyful." 

The Wesleyan Missionaries are indefatigable 
in their labours among the people of colour, 
and the Indian Tribes ; and are often known to 
advance as light troops, or pioneers, penetrat- 
ing into the very heart of the wilderness, before 
the slow movements of heavy corporate bodies, 
in the army of Christian missionaries. They 
follow the first influx of emigration into a new 
country, and through the labours of an itinerant 
ministry, the sound of the Gospel is heard with 
the sound of the axe ; and log cabins, and chapels 
of devotion are seen to rise up together. Suc- 
cess has marked the progress of their mission- 
ary enterprizes and operations, and they have 
many heathen in their communion, whose souls 
have been converted to God ; many, who a 
short time ago had no term in their language 
to express the Redeemer's name, but who now 
call God their Father, by the Holy Ghost given 
unto them. While thousands scattered through 
remote and destitute Settlements, would not, 
but for their missionary labours, hear the glad 
tidings of redemption, or meet with a faithful 
shepherd's care. 

During my stay with the Mississaugah tribe. 



298 INDIAN PREACHER'S ADDRESS. 

I was favoured with a copy of an Indian 
preachers address, in the Wesleyan connexion. 
It was delivered at one of their general meet- 
ings, in a settlement of Ohio, not long since, 
and may be relied on for its authenticity. 
Having engaged in prayer, he rose up in the 
desk, and looking round upon the crowded 
house, he began in a humble, but steady tone 
of voice. 

" My Brothers and Sisters ! It is a strange 
thing that a man from the wilderness should 
appear before this assembly in the place of a 
teacher.- — The great Father of us all has wrought 
the changes that have brought it to pass. My 
Brothers and Sisters ! I come not to teach, 
but to learn of you. I am from the forest, with 
few opportunities : you are surrounded with the 
highest privileges. Oh, let me exhort you to 
improve them ; let me remind you how great 
must be his condemnation who neglects them. 
My Friends ! I bring you good news from the 
wilderness.— The God of mercy has wrought a 
great change there. We adore Him for his 
unmerited goodness. To you our thanks are 
due as the ministers of his grace. This Book 
(raising up the Bible) brought the truth into 
the wilderness. — O that we might all walk in 
its precepts. My Brothers and Sisters ! There 



INDIAN PREACHER'S ADDRESS. 299 

are two classes in the wilderness : one opposes 
and reviles, and would destroy the word ; the 
other loves it as their life. I fear there are two 
classes among you. My Friends ! This word 
goes where it will : — I rejoice that it has come 
into the wilderness, making it glad. None can 
stop it. Those who oppose themselves to the 
progress of this Word, are like the man that 
would stop a thunder-gust with his hand. My 
Brothers and Sisters ! Before we knew this 
Word, we and our fathers worshipped after our 
own ignorant manner : — now we rejoice in a 
better way, and worship the God of our sal- 
vation. We had priests, and sacrifices, and 
dances, and ceremonies : these never softened 
or improved our hearts. Our eyes never melted 
into tears while worshipping, until we heard 
the name of Jesus. His love and compassion 
touched our hearts, and overwhelmed us like a 
flood. My Brothers and Sisters ! Praying 
neither tires nor grows old in the wilderness. 
A story or a song, often repeated, becomes 
wearisome ; but it is not so with prayer. The 
more we pray, the more we love to pray, — it is 
so with us in the wilderness. My Friends ! 
A coloured man first brought us the W ord : — 
we were assembled, feasting, and singing, and 
dancing : he tried to reason with us ; but we 



300 INDIAN PREACHER'S ADDRESS. 

continued our merry-making until he knelt 
down to pray : then we paused to look on and 
see what would come of this strange ceremony. 
He was soon called to the reward of his labours, 
and immediately a white man 3 one of your 
missionaries took his place. My Brothers and 
Sisters ! I cannot enough thank you for your 
kindness to the sons of the forest. — The forest 
smiles with the labours of the Indian husband- 
man in the West. Our children attend school, 
and dress neatly, and labour, and sing, and 
pray together : quarrelling, and drinking, and 
gaming are banished from among us : the 
young walk in straight paths, and the aged 
rejoice in the prospect that our race shall not 
be altogether lost from the face of the earth. 
My Brothers and Sisters ! I say no more. Have 
compassion on one who comes from the wilder- 
ness to tell you something good is doing there. 
May we all meet at the right-hand of God in 
Heaven." 

It need not be remarked, that this Indian's 
address was heard with great interest, and 
abundantly proves that the North-American 
Indian has intellect, Christian sympathy, and 
address, equal to any other people of similar 
advantages. 

Of their bravery and address in war, we have 



LOGAN. 



301 



multiplied proofs. — A war-chief addressed his 
warriors, waiting for the attack, in the following 
bold, figurative language : — " / know that your 
guns are burning in your hands — your toma- 
hawks are thirsting to drink the blood of your 
enemies — your trusty arrows are impatient to 
be upon the wing — and, lest delay should burn 
your hearts any longer, I give you the cool 
refreshing word, Away /" And " we may chal- 
lenge the whole orations of Demosthenes and 
Cicero, and of any more eminent orator, (if 
Europe has furnished more eminent,)" says 
Jefferson, in his Notes on the State of Virginia, 
" to produce a single passage superior to the 
speech of Logan, a Mingo chief, to Lord Dun- 
more, when governor of this state." The inci- 
dents which led to it are as follows. — In the 
spring of the year 1774, a robbery was com- 
mitted by some Indians on certain land-adven- 
turers on the river Ohio. The whites in that 
quarter, according to their custom, undertook 
to punish this outrage in a summary way. A 
certain captain, with another person of some 
influence, led on these parties, and surprizing 
at different times travelling and hunting par- 
ties of the Indians, having their women and 
children with them, murdered many. Among 
these were unfortunately the family of Logan, 



302 



LOGAN. 



a chief, celebrated in peace and war, and long 
distinguished as the friend of the Whites. This 
unworthy return provoked his vengeance. He 
accordingly signalized himself in the war which 
ensued. In the autumn of the same year a 
decisive battle was fought at the mouth of the 
Great Kanhaway, between the collected forces 
of the Shawanese, Mingoes, and Delawares, 
and a detachment of the Virginia Militia. The 
Indians were defeated, and sued for peace. 
Logan, however, disdained to be seen among 
the suppliants : but lest the sincerity of a treaty 
should be disturbed, from which so distinguished 
a chief absented himself, he sent by a messenger 
the following speech, to be delivered to Lord 
Dunmore.— c I appeal to any white man to 
say, if ever he entered Logan's cabin hungry, 
and he gave him not meat ; if ever he came 
cold and naked, and he clothed him not. During 
the course of the last long and bloody war, 
Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate 
for peace. Such was my love for the Whites, 
that my countrymen pointed as they passed, 
and said, ( Logan is the friend of white men/ 
I had even thought to have lived with you, but 
for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, 
the last spring, in cold blood and unprovoked, 
murdered all the relations of Logan, not even 



PARTING WITH MR. BRANDT. 



sparing my women and children. There runs 
not a drop of mij blood in the veins of any living 
creature. This called on me for revenge : I 
have sought it — I have killed many — I have 
glutted my vengeance. For my country I re- 
joice at the beams of peace ; but do not harbour 
a thought that mine is the joy of fear : Logan 
never felt fear — he will not turn on his heel to 
save his life. Who is there to mourn for 
Logan ? Not one ! " 

In leaving the Mississaugah Indians, on the 
river Credit, I parted with the well-educated 
and interesting chief of the six nations, Mr. 
Brandt, who stated to me in a letter, that e the 
Mohawk church was the first Protestant church 
built in the province of Upper Canada ; but/ he 
says, 6 as it is going to decay 5 we have not the 
funds to rebuild it ; and to prove how desirous 
we have ever been, and still are, of a minister, 
we have an allotment of two hundred acres of 
land, for the use of a resident clergyman, and 
fifty acres for the use of the school ; and we have 
appropriated six hundred dollars, or 150 pounds, 
province currency, towards defraying the ex- 
penses of building a parsonage house, and 
although that sum is quite insufficient for the 
object, yet it is the utmost we can do, consider- 
ing the circumstances and wants of our respec- 



304 



YORK, UPPER CANADA. 



tive tribes. We should be very thankful if we 
could obtain pecuniary aid sufficient to finish 
the parsonage and rebuild our church, and 
should rejoice to have a resident clergyman 
amongst us, who would not consider it too 
laborious frequently to travel to our several 
hamlets, to preach the gospel of the meek and 
lowly Jesus ; to visit the sick, and always to 
evince, not only by preaching, but example, 
his devotion to the church of Christ. 

J. Brandt, alias Ahyonewaeghs." 
My route on my return to England was by 
York, the capital of Upper Canada, and on my 
arrival I was happy to find that the change 
which had taken place in the general character 
and conduct of the Mississaugah Indians, had 
been noticed by the public authorities at York. 
Formerly, when they received their presents of 
clothing from government, they were seen 
lying about the streets in a state of drunken- 
ness, and their conduct was frequently riotous 
and offensive. But saving their presents from 
the waste of intoxication, their general appear- 
ance with their conduct is greatly altered. 
They are now seen more cleanly in their per- 
sons ; and the neat apparel of some of the 
women affords a pleasing comment on the 
change which has taken place in their husbands 



FALLS OF NIAGARA. 



305 



and fathers. York, has a very inconsiderable 
appearance for its name, as the capital of Upper 
Canada, consisting of little more than one, not 
very lengthened street, running parallel to Lake 
Ontario : but the garrison, situated at a short 
distance from the town, has rather an im- 
posing appearance, particularly from the water. 
Taking the steam boat, we crossed the Lake, 
which is nearly one hundred and seventy 
miles long, but not more than about sixty 
miles broad at the widest part ; and landed 
the same day at Niagara, a small town on the 
British side of the river, near to which is an 
intrenchment called Fort George. On the 
opposite bank of the river is the American 
garrison of Fort Niagara, a stone fortification 
of considerable strength. Coaches were wait- 
ing to take us from the steam boat, to the 
Falls ; and in visiting again the stupendous 
cataracts, the impression was heighten* i by 
a second view of the sublime scenery. It 
is not perhaps difficult to account for the 
disappointment which is sometimes felt at 
the first sight of the Falls. The surrounding 
country is level, and without variation to a 
perfect deadness ; and the first view will fre- 
quently lead those who hastily pass by, to be 
dissatisfied, and to wonder that the wonders 

x 



306 



FALLS OF NIAGARA. 



of Niagara are not more wonderful. The 
measurement of the Falls is stated at about 
one hundred and sixty feet in height, and 
the whole extent of the concave, following 
the line of cataracts, both on the American and 
British side, is very nearly four thousand feet, 
or about four times the breadth of the river 
half a mile below. It is supposed that twenty 
four millions of tons of water, daily rush over 
this tremendous precipice, making one million 
to fall every hour. As the spray ascended in 
clouds, I was much gratified at observing from 
the calmness of the day, a perfect rainbow un- 
broken from end to end. This is only to be 
seen in particular positions of the sun, and 
when the air is perfectly serene. The noise of 
the Falls is seldom heard at a very great dis- 
tance, as has been sometimes mentioned. We 
heard it distinctly on a calm evening at the 
distance of seven miles, and at the same time 
saw the spray ascending in a cloud of vapour, 
which may occasionally be seen at the distance 
of near fifty miles, but generally the sound of 
the Falls is not heard farther than about the 
distance of two miles. Niagara is an Indian 
term, and is said to signify the thunder of 
waters. The Indians pronounce it Niagara, 
but Americans and Canadians generally Niagara. 



GENESSEE FALLS. 



307 



Travelling from the Falls to Auburn, we 
passed through the beautiful village of Canan- 
daigua, at the head of the Lake of the same 
name ; then through the town of Geneva, 
near Seneca Lake, and afterwards crossed the 
Cayuga Lake, by a wooden bridge of about a 
mile in length. The scenery surrounding these 
Lakes is extremely striking and picturesque ; 
and the various towns and villages which we 
afterwards met with in our route, bearing 
classic and European names, wore a remarkably 
neat and flourishing appearance. Near to 
Rochester, are the Genessee Falls of about one 
hundred feet. They are visited by travellers 
as of some celebrity, and standing on the brink 
of the vast precipice, the prismatic colours of 
a rainbow are seen as at Niagara Falls during 
the shining of the sun, on the clouds of spray 
that ascend from below. In travelling through 
the western parts of the United States, and 
also in Upper Canada, it is not uncommon to 
see the castor oil plant which is indigenous 
in Southern Africa. When ripe, the seeds 
are cleared from the husks, and well bruised in 
a mortar, then boiled in water, till the oil rises 
on the surface, which being skimmed off is 
boiled over again, until the water be thoroughly 
expelled by evaporation. The Moravian Mis- 



308 



AUBURN PRISON. 



sionaries it is said, practise this method of 
obtaining castor oil in Africa with perfect 
success. 

On my arrival at Auburn, 1 was much grati- 
fied in visiting the state prison, which exhibited 
the best example, both as it respects construc- 
tion and management that I had ever witnessed 
or read of. The whole establishment was a speci- 
men of neatness, and contained within its walls 
four hundred and forty-four male, and seven 
female prisoners. Through the kindness of the 
governor, who afforded me every information on 
the subject of discipline, I visited their work- 
shops. The first was that of Blacksmiths ; the 
second, Carpenters ; third, Tailors ; fourth, 
Shoemakers ; fifth, Weavers ; sixth, Coopers. No 
prisoner in health was ever permitted to be idle ; 
and if he knew no trade at his commitment, he 
was taught one within the prison walls. Some 
of the knives, and rifles, manufactured in the 
workshops were of a highly finished description, 
and it was mentioned, that the sale of the 
various articles made by the prisoners, was 
expected soon to defray the greater part of the 
expenses, if not nearly the whole of the esta- 
blishment. Such was the perfection of disci- 
pline, by means of silence being imposed upon 
the convicts, that I passed through the several 



AUBURN PRISON. 



309 



workshops, were nearly four hundred of them 
were at work, under the superintendance and 
eye of the turnkeys, without seeing an indivi- 
dual leave his work, or turn his head to gaze 
upon me as a stranger. So strictly is this res- 
traint enforced, that the men would not know 
their fellow prisoners, though they worked to- 
gether for years, if they did not hear the keep- 
ers call them by name. It being their dinner 
hour, I saw them leave their workshops, and 
proceed in military order, under the eye of their 
turnkeys in solid columns, with the lock march 
to the common hall, where they partook of 
their meal in silence. I saw no fetter, nor 
heard the clinking of any chain, nor was any 
military guard seen, excepting a man with a 
musket on the parapet wall, to fire an alarm if 
necessary, yet there was perfect order and 
subordination. Not even a whisper was heard. 
If one had more food than he wanted, he raised 
his left hand, and if another had less, he raised 
his right hand, and the waiter changed it. — 
Though in the presence of so large a number 
of convicts, who had all knives in their hands, 
yet no one appeared to apprehend the least 
danger from mutiny. So effectual was the 
restraint imposed by silence in preventing all 
combination, that when they had done eating, 



310 



AUBURN PRISON. 



they rose from the table at the ringing of a 
little bell of the softest sound, formed again the 
solid column, and returned with the same 
march, under the eye of their turnkeys. At 
night they were marched in the same order, 
and each locked up in a solitary cell, with no 
other book but the Bible, till the sun rose on 
the following morning, when they were led to 
resume their accustomed labours. The general 
appearance of the prisoners was clean and 
healthy, and no corporal punishment was in- 
flicted on them, except the lash of the raw 
hide, as prompt punishment for any breach of 
discipline, or stubborn and refractory conduct. 
The effect of the whole system was stated to 
be most encouraging and salutary, as few who 
were discharged were brought under its disci- 
pline a second time. It appeared to me to 
approach a system of perfection in the manage- 
ment of criminals ; and for unremitted 
industry, entire subordination, and subdued 
feelings of the prisoners, the state prison of 
Auburn is probably without a parallel, among 
an equal number of convicts, in any other 
prison in the world. 

We had an opportunity of hearing in the 
Presbyterian church at Auburn, a celebrated 
preacher of the name of Finney. His labours 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AT AUBURN. 311 



as a minister of Christ, were peculiarly blessed 
wherever he preached in the western part of 
the State of New York. He showed consider- 
able talent in illustration, during his discourses, 
which he delivered with much energy, and 
apparently, under a strong devotional feeling 
for the eternal welfare of his audience. Multi- 
tudes flocked to hear him preach Christ, 
simply, faithfully, and with an honest mind ; 
and through much opposition, it was stated, 
that he had been the means of awakening to a 
serious concern for a future world, more than 
two thousand persons, within the two last 
years of his ministry, who were admitted mem- 
bers of the different churches in the villages 
and towns through which he had gone 
preaching. 

The next town we reached was Utica, 
situated on the banks of the Mohawk river, 
and the great western canal ; which has sprung 
up with amazing rapidity, within the last four- 
teen years. At the beginning of this period, 
there were only a few scattered houses, where 
there are now some beautiful buildings, and 
many handsome streets, which contain about 
four thousand inhabitants. In the vicinity are 
located the Oneida, and Stockbridge tribes of 
Indians, amounting to the number, it was saids 



312 



UTICA. 



of two thousand. They have been solicited to 
sell their lands, by the state of New York, and 
retire to Green Bay, Lake Michigan. It ap- 
pears to be an object with the United States 
government to induce all the Indians to retire 
beyond the limits of their present States, 
towards the rocky mountains, where there is a 
vast country which it is supposed they might 
possess to their advantage and happiness. It 
is thought, if that territory should be divided 
into districts, by previous agreement with the 
tribes now residing there, and civil govern- 
ments established in each, with schools for 
every branch of instruction in literature, and in 
the arts of civilized life, and subsequently 
if the whole of the Indians within the borders 
of any of the States, were to withdraw to those 
regions, the plan would rescue them from 
many calamities to which they are now subject, 
and prevent the future extinction of their 
tribes, with which they are threatened. To re- 
move them by force, even with a view to their 
own security and happiness, would however be 
revolting to humanity, and utterly unjustifiable ; 
and difficulties of a most serious character have 
occurred lately with the Creek Indians, and 
the Cherokees living in the States of Georgia 
and Alabama, in an attempt to lead them to 



CREEK INDIANS. 



313 



forsake their birth-right possessions, and the 
place where the ashes of their ancestors are 
deposited. These Indians have a considerable 
number of towns, and villages, and well culti- 
vated farms in the above States ; and it appears 
that a chief of considerable influence among 
them, called General M'Intosh, induced a few 
others of the Creek nation, with himself, to 
conclude a treaty with the commissioners of 
the United States, for the sale of the whole 
of the Indian lands in possession and reserva- 
tion. As soon as it was generally known, 
thirty seven chiefs, and headmen of different 
towns and villages, over which they presided, 
of the Creek nation, met in council, condemned 
M'Intosh, and put him to death as a traitor ; 
declaring at the same time, that they had made 
three irrevocable laws, viz. — 

First. That they would not receive one 
dollar of the sum, stipulated to be paid by the 
last treaty, through the treachery of M'Intosh, 
for their lands. 

Second. That they would not make war 
upon the whites, nor would they shed a drop 
of the blood of those who should be sent to 
take their lands from them. 

Third. That if they were turned out of their 
houses, they would die at the corner of their 



314 



TRENTON FALLS. 



fences, to manure the soil, rather than they 
would abandon the land of their forefathers. 

Fourteen miles from Utica, are Trenton 
Falls, which, with the surrounding scenery, 
present to the eye one of the finest natural 
prospects imaginable. The tout ensemble, is 
more beautiful, though the Falls have far less 
of the sublime, than the Falls of Niagara. They 
consist of four principal cataracts, rushing at 
a considerable distance from each other, through 
a chasm of rocks of dark lime-stone, which con- 
tain great quantities of petrified animals, and 
marine shells. — Leaving this romantic spot, we 
proceeded by the way of Schenectady to Albany, 
where, taking the steam-boat, we were pro- 
pelled along the Hudson river for New York. 
It would be ungenerous to deny, that it was 
on this river the Americans (though England 
had in use the steam power, for upwards of a 
century) first successfully applied its gigantic 
force to the navigation of boats against wind 
and tide. Fulton succeeded in this system, 
after others had made experiments and failed ; 
and carried into execution what others had 
abandoned as an impracticable and vapouring 
scheme. — In our progress down the Hudson, 
I was much struck with the grand and striking 
view of the Kaatskill mountains, which exceed 



ARRIVAL AT NEW YORK. 315 

three thousand feet in height. They are a dis- 
membered branch of the Great Appalachian 
mountains, a continuation of which skirts the 
boundaries of Connecticut and Massachusetts, 
and pursuing a north easterly course, passes 
through Vermont into Canada. No river per- 
haps in the world, has a more extensive con- 
tinuance of exquisite scenery than that of the 
Hudson ; its surface is constantly enlivened 
with vessels of every description, sailing to and 
from New York to Albany ; and its margin, 
with the adjaeent country, presents every 
variety of hill and vale 5 town, hamlet, and 
cottage. At West Point stands the military 
academy, which was established by the general 
government, and contains from two to three 
hundred cadets. 

Early on the following morning after we 
left Albany, I arrived a second time at New 
York, and reflecting on the extent of my jour- 
ney, through the eastern part of the United 
States, the British Provinces of New Bruns- 
wick, Nova Scotia, and Upper Canada, since I 
landed from the packet from England about 
fifteen months before, I could not but express 
my gratitude to God for preserving me in 
health, and protecting me from every accident 
during my mission.- — With respect to the morals 



316 INTEMPERANCE OF THE EMIGRANTS. 



of the people among whom I travelled, both 
Americans, and British emigrants, intemperance 
appeared every where, to be the prevailing vice 
among the lower classes of society. They have 
strong inducements to this vice, from the ex- 
cessive heat of the climate during the summer 
months, which creates a violent thirst, par- 
ticularly under manual, or agricultural labour, 
which is not allayed, as generally in the mother 
country, with the wholesome beverage of malt 
liquor. I seldom met with beer in North Ame- 
rica, and to drink cold water in a profuse state 
of perspiration, or when parched with thirst, is 
not safe ; the labouring classes therefore usually 
mix with it ardent spirits. — Though taken from 
prudential motives at first, it but too frequently 
produces a fondness for stimulants, and leads to 
habits of intoxication. The very low price of 
spirituous liquors operates as a strong incentive 
to drunkenness, and Irish labourers who had 
emigrated to America, have been known to 
give the invitation to their countrymen to 
follow them in their emigration to c el land of 
freedom, where they could get drunk for three 
cents' It would be sound policy on the part 
of the different legislative assemblies, though 
it might be unpopular for a season, to impose 
an additional tax on ardent spirits, and at the 



AMERICAN BOARDING-HOUSE. 



317 



same time to lessen (if practicable) the number 
of spirit shops and taverns, which are too 
generally met with in almost every part of the 
United States, and the British Provinces. 

The boarding-house system which prevails 
at New York, and throughout the United States, 
is not generally agreeable to Englishmen. Ac- 
customed as we are to consult our own ability, 
fancy, and convenience in travelling, and 
through a high feeling of independence, pre- 
ferring a solitary meal at our own hours, and 
without intrusion, we are not easily reconciled 
to a gregarious assemblage of strangers, with 
whom you are obliged at the boarding-houses 
to maintain some conversation, and to whom, 
from the characteristic inquisitiveness of the 
Americans, you and your affairs will become 
in a degree known. The establishment is ge- 
nerally kept by a highly respectable, yet small 
family, who receive you through a card of in- 
troduction, or that of a friend, as a boarder. 
You are shown to your bed room, on your 
arrival, by black servants, who are most com- 
mon, and informed of the hours of breakfast, 
dinner, and tea, which are taken in the com- 
mon parlour, or dining room, where the family 
and the boarders sit down together. The din- 
ner is always excellent, combining every variety 



318 



RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. 



of substantial food with a plentiful allowance of 
the delicacies of the season. During dinner, 
brandy, or rum and water is the usual beverage, 
few take wine unless they are entertaining a 
friend. After dinner two or three may linger 
in the room smoking a segar, but it is by no 
means customary. The Americans spend 
little time at table, seldom much more than a 
quarter of an hour, retiring to their commer- 
cial engagements, or reading the newspapers. 
There are frequently many permanent boarders 
at these houses, who generally take their seat 
at the table before travellers : and it is a com- 
mon custom, when young married people do 
not live in the family of the bride's father, for 
them to live in a boarding house, and not to 
think of any other residence till their increasing 
family makes a private establishment more 
desirable. 

In the religious freedom of America, Jews 
have all the privileges of Christians. The 
Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and the Indepen- 
dent meet on common ground. No religious 
test is required to qualify for public office, as 
a mere verbal assent to the truth of the Chris- 
tian religion is in all cases satisfactory. As to 
the probable continuance of the present system 
in regard to the various civil and religious pri- 



EMBARKED FOR ENGLAND. 



319 



•"ileges which America enjoys, different opinions 
will of course prevail. The grand experiment, 
however, which the people of the United States 
are making, in their national system of govern- 
ment, is still progressing after the trial of more 
than half a century, And the United States of 
America present themselves as the country, 
which, next to Britain, has the most ample re- 
sources to spread the knowledge of divine truth 
over different countries, and which in its rapidly 
increasing greatness, will find aids and supplies 
larger than has yet been possessed by any 
empire for benefiting mankind. Even now, in 
the infancy of their origin,, it is said, that " their 
vessels touch upon every coast, their inhabitants 
sojourn in every country, and even without their 
intentional efforts, religion grows with their 
growth, and strengthens with their strength ; 
they carry their altars with them into the wil- 
derness, and through them civilization and 
Christianity will flow on with an ever-enlarging 
stream, till they cover the shores of the Pacific. 
Even then the ocean will not terminate their 
progress,, but rather open out a passage to the 
shores of Eastern Asia, till both the Old and 
the New world are united and flourish beneath 
the same acts, and the same religion." 

In August, I embarked on board the Silas, 



320 



ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND. 



Richards, one of the regular line of packet ships 
from New York to England. These vessels are 
fitted up in a superior style of accommodation, 
and are probably seldom equalled by ships of 
any other nation, for rapidity of sailing. The 
weather being moderate, we had divine worship 
on the Sabbath, and during the voyage it fell 
to my lot to read the form of prayer for the 
burial of the dead at sea, on the death of one of 
the passengers. It was a solemn and impressive 
scene, in witnessing the body launched into 
the deep, and as the corpse fell and descended 
into the profound abyss, it led to the exclama- 
tion, "How soon man dieth and passeth away!" 
either to the tomb, or to a watery grave, there 
to wait the resurrection morn, when " the sea 
shall give up her dead," and all that are in the 
graves shall come forth to the final judgment. 
The Bible pronounces those blessed, " who die 
in the Lord." They wait His second appearance 
to judge the world ; and as " The dead in Christ 
shall rise first," — " He will appear the second 
time without sin to their salvation" 

After a voyage of about three weeks, we 
came in sight of "the fast anchored Isle" of 
my native land, and beating up St. George's 
channel, we soon afterwards landed at Liver- 
pool. I set my foot again on the British shore 



MISSIONS. 



321 



with gratitude, and under the persuasion, that, 
though England is the file leader in the march 
of Christian benevolence for sending forth 
Missionaries into all climes, yet, that much re- 
mains to be done in the cause of Missions. We 
want more simplicity and more self-devotion to 
the sacred work. 

It is not to be expected that the ministers of 
the gospel of the present day should have the 
same zeal for missions, as those who were 
thrust out to their work by persecution, and 
who had resigned whatever was dear to man 
for the sake of conscience ; still we may look 
forward to the time when zeal shall increase 
with knowledge. When Christians, professing 
a lively interest in the cause of missions, shall 
no longer so eagerly resist every application, 
or seek to oppose, in fearful apprehension, any 
expressed desire on the part of their children, 
relations, or more immediate friends, to engage 
in the truly arduous and great undertaking. 
u Let us cast our eyes," says a spirited and 
able writer on missions, " on soldiers and 
sailors. For a small sum a day, the soldier 
exposes his life ; and when the ball penetrates 
his chest, or his vitals palpitate on the bayonet, 
beguiles the anguish with the thought that he 
falls on the bed of honour and dies in the de- 



322 



MISSIONS. 



fence of his country. For a trifling stipend, 
the mariner encounters all the dangers of the 
deep, and braves a war of elements. Amid 
thick darkness, loud thunder, vivid lightning 
and deluging rains, he mans the rocking yards, 
climbs the reeling mast, or toils at the labo- 
rious pump. Faithful to his shipmates, and 
jbedient to his master, he declines no service, 
but courageously keeps death at bay until he 
sinks beneath a mountain of waters. All this 
do these poor men risk and suffer, strange to 
tell, without one Christian principle to support 
the soul : while we, under all the sanctions of 
religion, boasting patrician minds, enlarged 
with science, and superior to vulgar flights, 
dare not imitate their hardihood. A morsel of 
bread, which is all they seek, and all they gain, 
weighs heavier on the balance than the love of 
Christ, the glory of God, the salvation of men, 
the authority of Scripture, the sense of right, 
the principle of honour, and all the praise and 
glory of an immortal crown ! Well might our 
Lord exhort us to labour for the bread that 
perisheth not, and to agonize to enter in at the 
strait gate ! 

iC Consider next the officers of the army and 
navy. They are born as well, educated as 

delicately, and have as large share of the 



MISSIONS. 



32.1 



good things of this world, as the ministers of 
the gospel. They are refined in their ideas, 
and often in their persons not more robust 
than ourselves. But when their eountry calls 
for their swords, they come forth with a com- 
mendable gallantry ; and without the hardy 
habits of the private, go through the same fa- 
tigues, and confront the same perils. Not 
content with meeting dangers they cannot 
shun, the principle of honour, and the hope 
of preferment, push them on to seek occasions 
of distinction by achievements of heroism. 
Nevertheless, they have parents, wives, and 
children, as we have, who depend for a main- 
tenance on the lives of which they are so 
prodigal. 

" But how do the officers of the armies of 
Christ conduct themselves ? Little better, we 
regret to say, than an undisciplined militia, 
who have covenanted to fight only pro aris et 
focis. To see us exercise at home might give 
a high idea of our courage and prowess, if it 
were not too well understood that we had an 
invincible dislike to hard blows and long 
marches : what flowing eloquence, what strength 
of reasoning, what animated declamation do 
we hear from our pulpits ! What potent de- 
monstrations of the truths of Christianity, what 

Y 2 



324 



MISSIONS. 



confutations of infidelity, what accurate inves- 
tigation of moral duties, what vehement re- 
commendation of Christian graces employ the 
press ? And who would not think that among 
the many who write and speak such things a 
sufficient number of enlightened and well qua- 
lified Christian missionaries should be found 
to propagate in foreign parts a religion which 
we so justly prize at home." * It is said 
that when a Moravian Bishop was at Beth- 
lehem, in North America, letters were read in 
the Brethren's congregation, stating, that 
several of their missionaries had been carried 
off by sickness, in the Island of St. Thomas, in 
the W est Indies, that very day seven brethren 
offered to go and replace them. When will 
there be as little difficulty in supplying the 
calls of the heathen from among the ministers 
and friends of missions in the Church of 
England, as divine truth advances, and the 
great Captain of Salvation is seen carrying his 
conquests far to the east and to the west, to 
the north and to the south ? 

I would ever cherish in my heart those 
feelings which led me across the waters, — 
may they never leave me. Every where 

* See Melvill Home's Letters on Missions. 



ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND. 



325 



in the wilderness, as among the Esquimaux 
I met on the shores of Hudson's Bay, there 
is a desire, and an entreaty for instruction, and 
the labours of Missionaries. The time appears 
to be approaching when the veil shall be rent 
which has so long enveloped the face of nations 
in darkness; and the friends of Missions on 
both sides of the Atlantic, indulge the hope, 
that before the oak which was planted yester- 
day shall have reached its full maturity, the 
whole earth, according to the sure word of 
prophecy, "will be filled with the knowledge of 
the Lord." A multitude, throughout Christen- 
dom, are ready to join in the sublime supplica- 
tion of Milton — 

" Come therefore, O Thou that hast the 
seven stars in thy right hand, appoint thy 
chosen priests according to their orders and 
courses of old to minister before thee, and duly 
to dress and pour out the consecrated oil into 
thy holy and ever-burning lamps. Thou hast 
sent out the spirit of prayer upon thy servants 
over all the earth to this effect, and stirred up 
their vows as the sound of many waters about 
thy throne. Every one can say, that now cer- 
tainly thou hast visited this land, and hast not 
forgotten the utmost corners of the earth ; in 
a time when men had thought that thou wast 



326 



ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND. 



gone up from us to the farthest end of the 
heavens, and hadst left to do marvellously 
among the sons of these last ages. O perfect 
and accomplish thy glorious ac f s ; for men may 
leave their works unfinished, but thou art a 
God, thy nature is perfection. The times and 
seasons pass along under thy feet, to go and 
come at thy bidding : and as thou didst dignify 
our father's days with many revelations, above 
all their foregoing ages since thou tookest the 
flesh, so thou canst vouchsafe to us, though 
unworthy, as large a portion of thy Spirit as 
thou pleasest ; for who shall prejudice thy all- 
governing will? Seeing the power of thy 
grace is not passed away with the primitive 
times as fond and faithless men imagine, but 
thy kingdom is now at hand, and thou standing 
at the door. Come forth out of thy royal 
chamber, O Prince of all the kings of the 
earth ; put on the visible robes of thy Imperial 
Majesty, take up that unlimited sceptre which 
thy Almighty Father hath bequeathed thee; 
for now the voice of thy bride calls thee, and 
all creatures sigh to be renewed." 



THE END. 



BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 



THE SUBSTANCE OF A JOURNAL during a 
residence at the Red River Colony, British North 
America; and frequent excursions among the 
North West American Indians in the Years 1820, 
1821, 1822, 1823. Second Edition enlarged with 
the preceding Journal. 

" This volume (speaking of the First Edition) possesses a 
greater interest at the present moment than it might other- 
wise have done (though in itself a production of merit), from 
the circumstance of its describing with accuracy the manners 
and customs of those tribes among which, or others of similar 
habits, parties of our countrymen are about to range in ex- 
peditions of much public curiosity. When we do hear of 
Captain Franklin and his associates, (whom Mr. West met 
before) we shall find them about to traverse a country inha- 
bited by beings such as here painted ; and upon whose 
feelings, perhaps the success of their undertaking must in a 
considerable degree depend. We therefore read Mr. Wests' 
unpretending narrative with " increase of appetite," nor is it 
diminished by observing the sensible zeal with which he 
states the results of his humane and religious labours as a 
Missionary," 

The London Literary Gazette, May, 1825. 

" It is the plain, unvarnished, honest narrative of a pious 
and judicious Clergyman, who went out, in 1820, as Chap- 
lain to the Hudson's-Bay Company, and under the patronage 
also of the Church Missionary Society ; — who endeavoured 
to form and carry into effect plans for the education of the 
numerous offspring of Europeans by Indian women ; and to 
collect a few native Indian children, and train them up in 
Christian and civilized habits — and who, after labouring with 
great zeal and assiduity for three years, and erecting the first 
Protestant Church in this immense wilderness, returned to 
England, under the idea of conveying his wife and family to 
the seat of his labours ; but who, from some cause, not here 
assigned, has been induced or compelled to relinquish his 
important services." 

Christian Guardian, October 1825. 



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